Re-imagining Culture and Masculinity through the Lense of Teenage Fathers in Eldorado Village of South Africa
Ngadi Pertunia Rankakane 
, Tshilidzi Patrecia Mulaudzi & Kingsley Ekene Amaechi
Issue: Vol.6 No. 4 April 2025 Article 7 pp.219 – 234
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2025647 | Published online 22nd April, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The growing rate of teenage fatherhood in South Africa has been portrayed as a product of several social-political factors, particularly the broken system of racial injustice and economic inequality. In such discussions, scholars argue that the racialised social-political structures of apartheid and the corresponding persistent economic inequalities set the path for a distorted understanding of parenthood and the normalisation of teenage fatherhood. The current study is an extension of such argument. Drawing from the experiences of four purposefully selected teenage fathers at Eldorado village in the Limpopo province of South Africa, the study investigates how similar resources, such as peer interactions and cultural expectations, set the contexts and form the basis for teenagers’ fatherhood identity. These elements the study finds, interact with the existing racialised political structures of apartheid, to influence the motivations and aspirations for fatherhood in their community. Being exposed to early parenthood due to cultural expectations and family background, potential teenage fathers are further encouraged to accept teenage fatherhood and assume biological responsibilities due to added socio-economic challenges that are associated with raising their children within their community. Based on these findings, the study recommends that schools create conducive and supportive environments to re-orient potential young parents, facilitate a working relationship with various stakeholders, and initiate program for schools to help already evolved teenage fathers.
Keywords: Challenges, Culture, Fatherhood, Masculinity, Teenage Fatherhood, Teenage Parenthood
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Ms. Rankakane Ngadi Pertunia is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Youth in Development, University of Venda, South Africa. She works as a part-time lecturer at the same department and previously worked as a facilitator and assessor at TSP College in Giyani, South Africa. She holds a Master of Arts (Youth in Development) and a Bachelor of Arts, Youth in Development. Her research interests include youth development, student work-integrated learning, entrepreneurship education, youth entrepreneurship, and teenage parenthood.
Ms. Mulaudzi Tshilidzi Patrecia is a lecturer in the Department of Youth in Development Studies, University of Venda Limpopo, South Africa. She has a master’s degree in Gender Studies and is finalizing her PHD in Gender Studies. Her interest in research include women in traditional leadership, women empowerment, gender and violence, and working with different communities and non-profit organisation around issues of gender based violence.
Dr. Amaechi Kingsley Ekene is currently a postdoctoral research Fellow at the Department of Youth in Development studies, University of Venda, South Africa. Prior to this, he has worked as a part time lecturer at the Department of Arts and Social Sciences (Sociology Section), still at the University of Venda, South Africa. He has a masters degree in sociology (master of philosophy in religion, society and global issues), and a PhD in Religious Studies. His research interests include Sociology of religion, Religion and Peace building, Religion and violence, Salafi-Oriented Movement Organisations (particularly, Boko Haram), Religion and Gender, Theories of Violence, Social movement theory, Non-violent activism and African Indigenous knowledge and Entrepreneurship.
Rankakane, Ngadi Pertunia, Tshilidzi Patrecia Mulaudzi and Kingsley Ekene Amaechi. “Re-imagining Culture and Masculinity through the Lense of Teenage Fathers in Eldorado Village of South Africa.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 6, no.4 (2025): 219 – 234. https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2025647
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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