A 15-year-old boy in the conservative rural community of Thokazi Village in Nongoma, northern KZN, SA, has impregnated a 12-year-old girl.
Initially, the girl's parents thought she had been molested by an older man when they realised that she was pregnant.
They went to the Ulundi Police Station to open a rape case. However, after investigations, it turned out the girl had had a relationship with a 15-year-old boy.
A shocked resident said: "We are all shocked as we've never had such an incident before. We hope this was the first and last incident in our area." He blamed government for giving children too many rights.
According to Sexual Offences Act of 2007, children from 12 years of age are allowed to have sex as long as it's consensual. The resident said the boy was arrested and then released into the care of his parents.
CEO and founder of Bobbi Bear, an organisation that works with and helps sexually abused children, Jackie Branfield yesterday said she would like to see the consenting age go up to 18.
"Everybody lost their minds when they came up with the Sexual Offences Act. How will a
12-year-old even raise and take care of a child?" asked Jackie.
KZN Department of Social Development spokeswoman Ncumisa Fandesi-Ndelu said: "We are working with the police, the families of both children and the accused through a probation officer."
Captain Ntombi Gwala said: "The docket was sent to court. However, both the parents of the kids said they didn't want to continue with the case anymore. We are waiting for the preliminary report from the social workers and the date the matter will go back to court."
Source - Dailysun
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