ACROSS Africa, many young people are battling an economic downturn caused by COVID-19. The second yearly African Youth Survey found people aged 18-24 in 15 countries are losing jobs and changing their education goals.

Early findings of the study show the pandemic increased the already-high level of unemployment among the group.

Nearly 20 percent of the 4,500 people in the study said they became unemployed because of the pandemic. And 37 percent were forced to stop their education permanently or temporarily. Eight percent saw their pay reduced and 18 percent had to move back home. Finally, ten percent said they had to care for family members.

The study was carried out by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Founder, Ivor Ichikowitz, runs Paramount Group, a company that works with space, security, and military organizations.

Of the 1.3 billion people in Africa’s 54 countries, an estimated 250 million are aged 18-24. The study was carried out in large cities and trading centers in Angola, Congo, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia.

The researchers were from PSB Insights, an international research company. They were citizens of each country and went door-to-door for detailed, face-to-face interviews.

The people interviewed said the pandemic causes great, difficult changes to their schooling, showing the need for more computers and internet access in Africa for online education.

Bola Badejo, who is 29, says her work earnings at a broadcast station where she worked in Abuja, Nigeria, were cut in half. She said she could not make it on her pay, $146 a month.

She said, “I was already poor, and I was working just for the sake of doing the job.” Then, in April 2020, she was let go.

“I fell into depression because the whole thing was really sad. I felt I had nowhere to go,” Badejo said.

After seven months without a job, she started a home cleaning business, and that has increased her hope, she said.

Badejo is one of many who have found different ways to survive financially.

The study found that in 2020 about 40 percent of those who were asked had hope for the future. The pandemic changed that number, lowering it to 31 percent.

People make their way down a busy street in the Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. A study of people aged 18-24 in 15 African countries found that many have lost jobs or have seen their education stopped or changed by the pandemic. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

Uganda has had two shutdowns since April 2020, the second was eased in July. But businesses where people are in close contact, like bars and gyms, remained closed by presidential order. This leaves many young people without work.

Ronald Maathe is 25 years old and a janitor at a gym outside Uganda’s capital of Kampala. He shook his head sadly when saying that his monthly earnings is now what equals $43. It is half of what he used to make before the pandemic.

He said, “After I pay the rent, I am left with almost nothing.” He commented the half pay, “… doesn’t do anything.”

His face lights up when describing how he makes extra money by selling a fruit called grenadillas. He buys them from farmers near the border with Congo. He makes a small profit on every sack of fruit he sells in Kampala.

“My business is still small. But I have a dream,” he said. “If I can get someone to hold my hand, and give me a loan to expand my business, that’s what I want. I am not waiting for the government to help me.”

• AP

THE Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Professor Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize has passed away at the age of 69.

She was Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities.

Mkhize was an ANC NEC member, chairperson of the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa, and the treasurer general of the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL).

She previously served as Minister of Higher Education and Training and as deputy minister in the Correctional Services and Telecommunications ministries.

Mkhize was also ambassador to the Netherlands from 2005 to 2008.

She was also a founder member and a trustee of the Children and Violence Trust and had been a trustee of the Malibongwe Business Trust from 2005.

Mkhize held a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Social Work and Sociology from the University of Zululand; Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, and a Master of Clinical Psychology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

• Inside Politics

THE start date for the National Senior Certificate examination has been moved to 27 October 2021 from the initial starting date of 1 November 2021, to accommodate the upcoming local government elections.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Basic Education said that the English Paper 1, Business Studies Paper 1 and the non-official languages Paper 1, which were originally scheduled for 1 and 2 November, will now be written on 27 and 28 October respectively.

The decision comes after the Council of Education Ministers held a special meeting following a series of consultations with key stakeholders in the basic education sector.

“The changes were necessitated by the local government elections which will take place on 1 November 2021. Learners eligible to vote will now be able to cast their ballots,” the department said.

The Council of Education Ministers had approved the 2021 NSC examination timetable in May, however, last week the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, announced that the local government elections would take place on 1 November 2021.

“On Friday, 10th September 2021, consultations took place with key stakeholders that included teacher unions, school governing body associations and professional bodies.

“The purpose of the consultation sessions was to deliberate on what would be the most appropriate option regarding a change to the timetable, given that there are five weeks from the commencement of the examination,” the department said.

The department added that there are 207 question papers to be written over 25 days (5 weeks) and there no vacant sessions in the current timetable. Therefore, the re-scheduling needed to be confined to either prior the commencement date or post the conclusion date.

“The best interest of the learner was a key consideration in addition to ensuring that a minimum change to the current timetable was made to avoid confusion,” the department said.

The department has urged candidates preparing for the examination to keep working hard.

In a bid to offer support and assistance to learners, the department has made available a wide range of resources with support materials on different platforms through the remote and digital learning programme Woza Matrics.

The learning materials will be delivered across these channels DBETV channel 122 on Openview, SABC1, DSTV CatchUp & Showmax, on Mondays and Thursdays from 23h00 to 00h00, Saturdays from 06h00 to 10h00 and Sundays from 07h00 to 08h00.

The Woza Matrics programme also offers learners with some psycho-social support, tutor support and exciting competitions.

To access more information on the Woza Matrics programme go to www.wozamatrics.co.za or https://www.facebook.com/wozamatrics/ or https://twitter.com/wozamatrics or https://www.instagram.com/wozamatrics/ or https://www.youtube.com/wozamatrics or on WhatsApp on 061 505 3023.

– SAnews.gov.za

SOUTH African lockdowns and other restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus crisis have led to a rise in teenage pregnancies in Africa, with aid organizations warning of a regression in girls’ rights to education and health.

The number of children born to teen mothers in South Africa’s most populous province, Gauteng, has jumped 60% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Save the Children.

New figures from the Gauteng Department of Health show that more than 23,000 girls aged under 18 gave birth between April 2020 and March 2021 – of which 934 were aged under 14 – compared to 14,577 girls aged 19 and under having babies in the same period a year earlier.

Gauteng is home to more than 15 million people, a quarter of South Africa’s population, and includes the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, and its administrative capital, Pretoria.

In the Northern Cape, more than 5 000 schoolgirls have fallen pregnant between April 2020 and June this year.

The provincial Education Department has raised concerns about the alarming number of pregnant teenagers saying some are as young as ten.

MEC Zolile Monakali said the provincial education department has now invested in life skill programmes to support learners.

“When the pandemic started up to the end of June this year, we recorded 5015 pregnant cases of girls between the ages of ten and nineteen and of those 154 is accounted for by girls between the ages of ten and fourteen that is a big concern for our education system,” said Monakali.

“Currently in the Northern Cape Department of Education, we are attending to five cases which involve educators and learners. When educators are found guilty in such cases, it is a dismissible offence, we even go so far as to contact the South African Council of Educators to scrap their names from the educators roll.”

In August this year, The Soul City Institute for Social Justice said it’s not surprised by the figures that close to a thousand young girls in Gauteng gave birth between March this year and April last year.

The Institute says although the COVID-19 pandemic might have put the issue in the spotlight, this is not a new problem. The Gauteng Health Department recorded over 23 000 teenage pregnancies between April 2020 and March 2021, with 934 being girls aged between 10 and 14.

Soul City Institute CEO Phinah Kodisang says this is a reflection of how the country continues to fail children.

“For us as Soul City Institute it’s not a shock. We know this has been an ongoing problem. The numbers have been escalating probably because of COVID-19. But this problem has been a standing problem. And because we do not call it what it is, it’s statutory rape when a 10 or 14-year-old is having sex. Because the age of consent in South Africa is 16 years.”

Early pregnancy and motherhood in South Africa forces many girls to drop out of school, traps many in a cycle of poverty dependant on public assistance, and leaves many stigmatised by society for being teenage mothers or forced into early marriage.

It also creates a greater risk in terms of maternal complications resulting in low survival rates of babies and forces many girls to prematurely take on an adult role which they are not emotionally or physically prepared for. This has devastating social and economic costs.

Marumo Sekgobela, Save the Children South Africa’s Health and Nutrition Thematic Manager, said:

“Watching a child turn into a mother is heart-breaking. Children need to be children, not birthing them. It’s particularly devastating to learn that many of the girls who gave birth last year were barely teenagers.

“The global pandemic risks being a time of irreversible setbacks and lost progress for girls. Unless we act fast and decisively, the impact on girls’ futures – and on all our futures – will be devastating.

“There has never been a more important time to empower teenagers to take control of their sexual health and stay safe. Save the Children calls on the Government of South Africa and Gauteng province to ensure that adolescents, regardless of gender, have access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and services. We also call on families, communities, religious & traditional leaders to support reproductive health rights of teenagers. It is time that we dismantle the barriers to accessing services.”

Unintended pregnancy among adolescents requires holistic approaches that build girl’s empowerment, help them make decisions about their lives, including around sexual and reproductive health, engages the support of men and boys in their lives, and offers them real opportunities so that motherhood is not seen as their only destiny.

A key factor contributing to the sexual and reproductive health risks that adolescents face in South Africa is lack of access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as well as access to affordable, and appropriate health services.

In South Africa, Save the Children implements an integrated and holistic programme that aims to support children, adolescents and young people to stay in school, stay healthy, and achieve their full potential.

Last Friday, the Department of Basic Education said scores of young girls between the ages of 10 and 19 years old are infected with HIV every week.

This was revealed during the department’s state of Teenage pregnancy and Comprehensive Sexuality report presented to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on Tuesday.

The report has revealed that teenage pregnancy increased by 30% higher than the annual average between April 2020 and March 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Deputy director-general Dr Granville Whittle said poverty, rape, gaps in the Comprehensive Sexuality Education, and school dropouts are among the culprits. 

“Girls are four times more likely to be impacted or affected by HIV compared to boys. 46% of sexual abuse complaints in South Africa are children, 15.1% of all the girls experience rape, sexual harassment, verbal abuse or bullying in schools.”

In the first quarter of 2021, just over 35 000 pregnancies were recorded among young girls aged between 15 and 19 years old. 

1053 pregnancies were recorded among children aged between 10 and 14 years old.

These numbers were increased by the countrywide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. 

Whittle told Parliament that the numbers are alarming and need immediate action and solutions. 

• Additional reporting by Reliefweb

A four-year-old girl from Soweto has been raped, allegedly by a man living at the daycare centre she attends, the Gauteng Department of Social Development has confirmed.

The Gauteng Social Development MEC Morakane Mosupye said the department has since sent a team of investigators to establish if the Silindokuhle Day Care Centre was operating legally.

“In terms of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, partial care facilities are places of care for children between 0-6 years which must provide a safe and secure environment for children,” said  Mosupyoe.

“Furthermore, this investigation will enable the department to take legal steps to remedy this unfortunate event and provide the family and toddler with psychosocial support,” said Mosupyoe.

Mosupye added: “Women and children are constant targets for rape and abuse in our country. If indeed any fault is found regarding the ECD in question the department must take action immediately.”

The incident comes off the back of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Sunday.

He spoke about the country’s progress in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, but he also touched on the country’s “other pandemic” – which is the violence against women and children.

“This month alone there have been a number of terrible crimes committed against women and girls,” said Ramaphosa.

University of Fort Hare law student Nosicelo Mtebeni was murdered and dismembered in East London; a Grade 1 pupil from Khensani Primary School in Soshanguve was raped in the school’s toilets; Palesa Maruping was found hanging from the ceiling of a house in Khuma location in the North West; Pheliswa Sawutana was strangled to death in Kosovo informal settlement in Cape Town.

“These are just the cases that were covered in the media; there were others that were not. These gruesome acts of violence cannot go unpunished,” said Ramaphosa.

It is unclear if police have made any arrests yet.