Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said she is looking at possible incentives to prevent young girls from falling pregnant.

She was addressing members of the Business Women's Association in Stellenbosch on Sunday to mark Women?s Day.

Zille said she was shocked at the staggering number of children becoming parents. South Africa has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world.

The premier said young girls must realise they are limiting their own opportunities by falling pregnant.

"I think we need to look more into incentives. An incentive, for example, would be that if a young woman of 21-years-old has a matric certificate and has never applied for a child grant, that she would be eligible for a bursary to consider her studies. Those are the kinds of things that we as a society should look at," Zille said.