The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in North West has called for concrete action to protect girl children in the province, arguing that commemorative gestures for anti-apartheid stalwart Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati are hollow while rates of child pregnancy and sexual violence remain high.
Party links commemoration to recent health data
EFF provincial spokesperson Fanon Moema said the decision by the former Bophirima District Council to rename the district after Mompati in 2007 honours her activism but does not continue her struggle for the safety and dignity of women and girls.
“The most honest way to honour Mama Ruth Mompati is not through ceremonial speeches and Women’s Day rallies. It is to ask whether the girl children who walk the streets, attend the schools and use the clinics of the North West are safe,” said Moema.
Moema pointed to a 2026 analysis of public health records for the financial year ending in 2025, which found that in North West public facilities 100 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth and 90 girls in the same age group had terminations of pregnancy. He said those figures exclude cases where rape did not result in pregnancy and incidents that were not reported.
Numbers underscored as human crises
Moema framed the statistics as human tragedies rather than abstractions. He said each number represents a child whose education, health and prospects have been disrupted by adult violence.
The EFF criticised what it described as the normalisation of violence against girl children and urged authorities to match symbolic recognition of anti-apartheid leaders with effective measures to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
- Renaming note: The Bophirima District Council adopted a resolution to rename the district after Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati on 28 February 2007, Moema said.
- Public-health data: 100 births and 90 terminations among girls aged 10–14 in the reporting year to 2025.
- EFF demand: Move beyond ceremonies to concrete protections and services for girl children.
Local resonance and wider implications
The EFF statement reconnects a historical legacy — Mompati, who was born in Ganyesa near Vryburg and later served as mayor of Naledi Local Municipality — to contemporary challenges. Party representatives argue that honouring struggle icons must include ensuring the safety and futures of children in their home provinces.
Public-health figures that show births and pregnancy terminations among pre-teens and young adolescents raise questions about prevention, reporting, access to support services and criminal justice responses. The EFF highlighted the gap between symbolic acts and the lived realities of many children in the province.
| Indicator | Number (financial year ending 2025) |
|---|---|
| Births among girls aged 10–14 | 100 |
| Pregnancy terminations among girls aged 10–14 | 90 |
What the statement does — and does not — say
The source material is a political statement rather than a technical report. It cites an analysis of public-health data but does not provide a departmental breakdown, facility-level detail or information on geographic distribution within the province. The EFF emphasised the moral urgency and called for accountability without setting out a specific package of interventions in the statement.
South African law treats rape as a serious offence; the EFF noted the dissonance between that classification and what it described as the social normalisation of violence against girls. The party said symbolic honouring of Mompati must be accompanied by measures that ensure the safety, education and health of girl children.
Community activists, service-providers and political parties frequently point to gaps in prevention, support for survivors and prosecution as barriers to addressing sexual violence. The EFF’s public comments bring those concerns back into the political spotlight in North West ahead of national and provincial policy discussions.
As the province marks Women’s Day and other commemorations, the EFF’s intervention reframes the debate: commemoration, the party says, should be paired with measurable improvements in the lives of women and children rather than solely ceremonial tribute.
