An Eastern Cape ANC youth regional chairperson says he believes the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy in East London’s Scenery Park was the result of a “a perfect storm of non-compliance and corruption”.
Dr WB Rubusana ANCYL regional chairperson Ondela Sokomani spoke to Sunday Times Daily outside Enyobeni Tavern.
Behind him hundreds of children from Scenery Park and surrounding areas had arrived to pay respect to their fallen friends. Speculation continued among the community around the cause of the 21 deaths — 12 girls and nine boys.
“If the children died because of something they inhaled, why did only they get hurt? What about the bar staff and the bouncers? Not a single one of them was hurt during this tragedy. I don’t buy that story,” Sokomani said.
For a moment, the sea of singing and crying children threatened to spill over the police tape. After police restored a measure of calm, Sokomani continued his interview, saying he blamed a corrupt system — “a perfect storm of non-compliance and corruption”.
“The police frequently patrol the more affluent areas in town, but they never come here, even though the residents here will tell you Enyobeni is famous for its underage clientele.
“There is a reason police don’t patrol this tavern ... The tavern is clearly non-compliant with liquor regulations. It is not even zoned as a place of business, never mind to sell alcohol.”
Sokomani is waiting for the outcome of the police investigation. “Of course we are expected to be patient, but this is 21 of our children we are talking about. No matter what the outcome of the medical and police investigations, this place must be closed down for good,” he said.
He is not the only one to doubt reports of carbon monoxide poisoning to be the cause of death. A 60-year-old grandmother of two, who lives around the corner, said she also heard rumours of gas.
“People early this week were talking about gas, but that story has changed. They now say there is some sort of medical alcohol involved that people use to make alcohol themselves. If you add too much it becomes poison,” said the granny.
Every weekend it's crazy here until five in the morning and a lot of the noise and crazy comes from the babies. I don’t even drink there, I go to another place because Enyobeni pulls too many children as customers.
— Scenery Park resident, aged 15
Two 15-year-olds who live in the same street as the Enyobeni Tavern, spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Every weekend it’s crazy here until five in the morning and a lot of the noise and crazy comes from the babies. I don’t even drink there, I go to another place because Enyobeni pulls too many children as customers,” one young boy told the Times.
He also immediately discounts a petrol generator as the cause of death. “The lights were on when the screaming started. The generator was off.”
His friend witnessed some of the aftermath. “I woke up from the noise and screaming just before 1am, when people were jumping off the tavern balcony. I went outside to find out what was going on and I saw people, some of them kids, jumping from the balcony. After that I was scared and ran inside the house. I did not sleep again that night,” the second boy said.
The provincial government said autopsies had been performed on all the deceased and samples sent to a laboratory in the Western Cape for investigation.
“The report will be shared with the affected families as soon as investigations have been concluded,” it said in a statement.
The Eastern Cape police also expressed concern about rumours circulating on the cause of death.
“Until such time that the work of the forensic laboratory is concluded, any informal and unofficial information which is not released by the SA Police Service must be regarded as falsehood and misleading to the public and the affected deceased families.”
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