A year after 21 teenagers died in the Enyobeni tavern, East London, their families are still trying to find closure, and have criticised authorities for not being transparent about their cause of death.
On June 26 last year, the bodies of the teenagers, aged between 13 and 17, were discovered by police at the tavern in Scenery Park.
The youngsters were believed to have suffocated due to overcrowding inside the tavern, according to media reports, but official results into the cause of death were not made public.
The tavern owners, Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu, were held on charges of contravening the Liquor Act by selling alcohol to persons under the age of 18, to which they have both pleaded not guilty.
The matter was set to continue in the East London Magistrate’s Court on July 19 and 20.
The families on Monday gathered at the Scenery Park community hall where they held a commemorative service for their children.
They were set to hold a march, however, due to the weather they could not proceed.
Xolile Malangeni, parent of the late 17-year-old Esinako Malangeni, said: “It has been a very hard year for us. As the families, all we want is closure. Our kids died, why won't the government give us the results? They say we must apply to the courts. How can we apply to learn what happened to our own kids? We have had enough now. We also hear the tavern is selling empties, it’s supposed to be closed. We want to know how this is possible?”
Approached for comment, the Eastern Cape Health Department referred all requests pertaining to the incident to police.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said: “The cause of death was communicated to the families of the deceased persons. The inquest investigation was completed and in November 2022 the docket was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) for a decision. The DPP has instructed that a formal inquest must be held, meaning that evidence will be heard in court and this formal process will determine whether anyone is criminally liable or not. The docket is with the regional court (senior public prosecutor) to set a date for the formal inquest.
Feedback to the families of the deceased are regularly communicated. The tavern is still closed.”
Meanwhile “pens-down parties” held across the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) at the weekend, saw at least five children taken to hospital after drinking too much alcohol, the municipality said.
The municipality said its Law Enforcement, Traffic Services, Fire, Disaster Management and local police “had their hands full as hundreds of teenagers (about 700) descended on the beachfront”.
“We commend tavern/clubs/ shebeen/bottle store owners, who took responsibility to comply with their licence conditions and made sure that no underage children were allowed to access their premises and buy alcohol,” the municipality said.
Cape Times