Statistics South Africa has raised concerns over the increasing
number of teenage mothers in 2021.
A total of 45 257 births were from mothers aged 17 years
and younger and of these, 42 were births from mothers between the ages of 11
and 12.
The data company released the number of registered births
for 2021.
The statistical release also provided information on trends
in births that occurred during the period 1994 to 2015, and whether these are
registered within a 30-day period as required by law. The release draws on data
collected by the Department of Home Affairs through the civil registration
system.
A total of 1 million 87 thousand 526 births were registered
in South Africa in 2021. Of these, 87,3% were births that occurred and were
registered last year, , while 12,7% were births that occurred in the previous
years but were registered in 2021.
Of the total 949 757 children born in 2021, there were 498
573 male and 491 056 female births.
StatsSA said the negative impact of COVID-19 and national
lockdown regulations such as the closure of Department of Home Affairs (DHA)
offices, resulted in a 9,2% decline in registration within 30 days in 2020,
however, it added it has seen a slight increase of 4% in 2021, i.e.
registration within 30 days increased from 71% in 2020 to 75%.
Late registrations of birth after the lapse of 30 days but
before the end of the year, also decreased from 25% in 2020 to 20% in 2021
Now the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Actstipulates
that all births must be registered within 30 days from the date of occurrence.
Last year, 74,6 % of births that occurred complied with
this amendment. However, KwaZulu-Natal province remains the only province which
performs poorly in terms of early birth registrations with only 67,7% births
registered within 30 days of occurrence.
Stats SA raised concerns about information pertaining to
fathers
The data company said In 2021, no reliable information on
fathers could be provided due to a high proportion of births registered (more
than 60%) without the details of fathers.
Let’s hone in on the Western Cape, and 103 368 births were
registered, last year. of these, 79 449 were within 30 days. 1 819 parents only
registered their child within a space of a year or 14 years.
The sex ratio at birth is defined as the number of male
births per 100 female births. South Africa had a sex ratio of 102 males per 100
females indicating that there were more male birth registrations than female
birth registrations in 2021. Three out of nine provinces had a sex ratio of 102
male birth registrations per 100 female birth registrations. These were
Northern Cape, KwaZuluNatal and Gauteng.
Western Cape had the highest sex ratio at 103, whereas
North West and Limpopo had the lowest sex ratio at 100 male birth registrations
per 100 female birth.
Now the pattern of birth occurrences by month of birth was
largely similar between 2017 and 2021. The highest proportions of births
occurred during the month of March for all the years.
This suggests that over the five years, a higher proportion
of birth occurrences were likely to be conceived during June or July. In 2021
the second most common month of birth occurrence was May, and January, a
departure from the previous trend, where September was the second highest
month. The proportion of births occurrence during March and May are also much
higher than the pattern seen in previous years, while September shows an
uncharacteristic decline in proportion of birth occurrence.
In terms of Baby forenames and surnames in South Africa,
and
As you know, A person’s forename and surname are
fundamental human rights enshrined in the Births and Deaths Registration
The act of giving a child a name continues throughout their
upbringing and these names remains just as important. In a world full of words,
language is used to identify, classify and connect. The naming of a newborn
child plays a very important role in most cultures around the world. For
instance, African baby names are given for reason, relevance and purpose.
Similarly, South Africa is a country with a variety of cultures and religions,
this has a profound influence on baby naming.
Now according to Stats SA, amongst males, the top three
leading forenames were Lethabo, followed by Lubanzi and Melokuhle.
The leading forenames for females were Melokuhle in first
place, followed by Omphile in second place and Iminathi in third place.
Melokuhle, Lethabo and Lethokuhle appeared on both males
and females top ten list. Melokuhle ranked first amongst females while it
ranked third amongst males.
In general, the popular baby forenames for males and females
reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs and are inspired by
positive connotations of both love and acceptance.
Now for both sexes Dlamini was the most common baby surname
in 2021, closely followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu. These surnames has been the most
common baby surnames in South Africa for the past 8 years.
It is noteworthy says the data company, that, nine of the
surnames were from the Nguni clans namely isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and
siSwati. Mokoena which featured as the sixth most popular surname was the only
non-Nguni surname.
For Bush Radio News, I’m Mitchum George
PICTURE: CoCT
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