The families who lost their children at Enyobeni tavern in East London are preparing for the legal action to force the government to release the final post-mortem report regarding the actual cause of death for their children.
South Africa was shocked when 21 teenagers died at the Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park, East London, in June.
The distraught families, still waiting for answers on what led to the demise of their children, were on Thursday told in private meetings with officials that their children had died after
being suffocated and “crushed” due to overcrowding.
All families have rejected the cause of death through suffocation that was presented to them by the Eastern Cape department of health and are saying until they can get full access to the report, they will remain
suspicious about why the report cannot be made public.
They say health officials told them that their children suffocated because the place was extremely overcrowded and they crashed on each other.
One of the parents, Ntombomzi Ncandana, who lost her son Bhongolwethu, said: “If they were not concealing something they would have made efforts to present this document to us in a way that we can understand and tell us confidential parts that they will use in court.
“We also want justice for our children. We wouldn’t compromise investigations that bring about justice. But this claim of suffocation doesn’t make sense to us and we don’t even know what further charges can be added. They can’t explain that to us even though there were representatives from the police.”
Another parent, Nomawethu Mboyiya, who lost her 15-year-old daughter, Sandanathi, said what the health officials told them was similar to the claims of stampede that were ruled out when the autopsy report was
released.
“They tried to create and explained the difference between the stampede and crashing, but their explanation does not make any sense to us,” said Mboyiya.
In mid-July a pre-toxicology report found methanol in all the 21 bodies of the deceased teenagers. A final toxicology report was released early in August and the Eastern Cape department of health said that report was being studied together with autopsy report to produce the final report.
The provincial department also said it had roped in three top forensic autopsy experts to help compile the report that was presented to the families.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana could not be drawn on whether police objected to the report being released, but
confirmed that it was indeed part of the police evidence that would be used in court.
Xolile Malangeni, who lost his daughter Esinako, said the families would meet and discuss the legal strategy.
“We will not allow this government to bully us and do as they please with the lives of our children. We will not allow them to trample on us just because we are poor. We are going to fight them not only for the deceased children but their remaining siblings also need a closure. There can be no closure while they’re still playing foolish games with us,” said Malangeni.
Enyobeni tavern owner Siyakhangela Ndevu and his wife, Vuyokazi, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in East London on Friday. The two are facing charges of allowing underage patrons in their establishment and selling alcohol to them.
Nomawethu Mboyiya is comforted by Siphokazi Toyi after breaking into tears as she was speaking about her agony over the report of Enyobeni Tavern deaths. / Johnnie Isaac
