Broadcast DetailsShow: Special Assignment VIIIEpisode Title: Imali Yeqolo - Rent A Womb
Date: Tuesday, 25 July, 2006
Time: 21h30
Channel: SABC 3
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Statistics show that children as young as six are sexually active in KwaZulu-Natal. Over 2000 schoolgirls fell pregnant over the last two years in Gauteng, while in the Eastern Cape one high school alone reported 26 pregnant schoolgirls in 2005.
That schoolgirls are falling pregnant is not a new phenomenon – but the rate at which they are doing so has increased. This week Special Assignment meets concerned parents, learners and young mothers to discuss the link between child support grants and teenagers falling pregnant.
We talk to the community of Matimatolo in rural KwaZulu-Natal where parents admit that there is a link between teenagers falling pregnant and the child support grant. In Bergville, KZN, we visit a pay point where child support grants are being paid out and speak to several young mothers. Many tell us that they spend the grants on themselves.
We also highlight the problem of mixed messages that are sent out about contraception and HIV-Aids. We meet “Focus on the Family”, an NGO preaching abstinence in schools. They encourage primary school kids to sign pledges that they will abstain from sex until they get married. They also propagate the notion that kids shouldn’t use condoms because condoms won’t protect them.
Perhaps more disturbing were comments from learners of Beverly Hills in Sebokeng – a high school ranked second in Gauteng for its high rate of teenage pregnancy. A young father clearly said he doesn’t use a condom and still prefers skin-on-skin sex because the girls he sleeps with don’t have Aids. If they had the virus he said he would feel it in his blood.
Schoolgirls in Sebokeng talk about why they shy away from using contraceptives, including condoms. They also admit that they don’t use child support grants exclusively for their children – but often spend the money on themselves buying clothes and other goods.
Rent A Womb is directed by Thuli Nhlapo and was filmed by Dudley Saunders and Thulo Monare.