Two news articles published this week point to some of the incredible social problems that South Africa is dealing with.

1. Education and Pregnancy

Last week's Sunday Times (a national newspaper) reported statistics about pregnancy rates in schools. In the Eastern Cape, from which many people migrate to Cape Town and the surrounding area, there were 5,015 pregnancy schoolgirls in 2006, up from 3,264 in 2005. According to the provincial statistics, 55 of these girls were in Grade 5 (that's age 10 or 11); 129 in grade 6; 346 in Grade 7; 648 in Grade 8; 913 in Grade 9; 1,131 in Grade 10; 1,003 in Grade 11; and 790 in Grade 12.

One school, Mqikela, had 144 pregnancy students out of a school size of 1,500.

Authorities list many reasons for the rise in pregnancies. These include:

• Girls lack negotiating power regarding the use of condoms, both with younger and older men. Even though condom education and usage is up (because of the anti-HIV programmes) it's possible they are not used correctly, and other birth control methods are being ignored.

• Because the government provides child care grants (R190 per month per child), some authorities believe girls are having babies to get financial assistance. Many of the girls mentioned in the article are orphans or living on their own. One principal was quoted as saying “These kids are competing over the number of children each has and how much money they earn from this. They are poor so they want more kids.” It's creating a cycle of poverty that will be extremely difficult to break free of.

• Sexual abuse, coercive sex and survival sex (trading sex for money, but not as prostitution) are ever-present in both urban and rural areas.

• Poor school attendance, poor discipline, gangsterism, and drug abuse were also cited as reasons. Class sizes can run as high as 100 students, making learning very difficult. Many students skip school and hang out on the street. Gangs are very common and have little fear of authority (they loiter outside JL Zwane from time to time and harass the after-school students).

I've seen some of the schools and the conditions under which children are expected to learn. I'll write more on that in a later posting.

2. South Africa: Hub in the Drugs Wheel

The Wall Street Journal had a Page 1 story on Monday (21 May) about the role South Africa plays in global distribution of methamphetamine, known locally as tik (pronounced took). Major gangs in the country are trafficking in both raw ingredients and finished products to and from countries like China, Mexico, and Australia. They are even using non-monetary items as payment, including abalone poached from the Indian Ocean.

Tik usage is getting more and more press here and I get the sense it is a major and growing problem. There is a concern about the impact it will have on the HIV rate here, since methamphetamine usage can contribute to higher rates of unsafe sex and HIV infection.

The writer spent a lot of time with the leader of a local gang called the Americans. Their motto is
"In God we Trust and die we must.” The gang leader claims to be a legitimate businessman and makes sure his own kids do not use drugs. It could be a Sopranos storyline.

(I have been warned here before about calling myself an American, that some people may think I'm with the gang. Instead, I'm supposed to say I'm from the U.S. Crazy.)

If you want to read the article, try this link (you'll have to paste it into your browser): http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1744036003. If this link doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll send you a PDF of the article.

More to come.