Pretoria - Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, will on Friday visit Bulwer in KwaZulu-Natal to address the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the area.
According to recent community dialogues conducted in the area, teenage pregnancy is a major social challenge in the small town in the province’s Midlands region.
Statistics South Africa’s 2013 Household Survey Report also showed that 7.8% of South African girls between ages of seven and 18 years were not attending any educational institution and cited pregnancy as a reason for high levels of school dropouts.
Minister Dlamini will also use the opportunity to introduce Phase Two of Project Mikondzo, which seeks to increase the pace of service delivery in the poorest 1 700 wards in the country.
The first phase of Project Mikondzo concentrated largely on identifying service delivery gaps in 1 300 wards, which were identified by Cabinet as a priority.
The second phase will be looking at speeding up the delivery of services to the poorest communities. Bulwer community is one of the 1 700 wards targeted for development and improvement through Phase Two of Project Mikondzo.
Project Mikondzo also seeks to assess whether communities understand the Department of Social Development as a product. – SAnews.gov.za
