Teen dies after Scenery Park tavern brawl, but his ‘killer is still free’

Five days before 21 teenagers died at Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park in the Eastern Cape, Nicho Mandondo’s 18-year-old twin brother Likho was badly injured and left for dead at another tavern in the area. 

He sustained serious head injuries after allegedly being beaten by a DJ there. 

Likho has since died and now his sister wants justice. 

“My brother was assaulted by the DJ on June 20. He died in Frere hospital on July 5. It is almost 10 days later and the man who did this is still walking around Scenery Park,” Nicho said on Thursday.

During the early evening on June 20, the twins, visited the tavern, the name of which is being withheld for legal reasons. 

“We always went there because Likho sold fat cakes to the customers. That night we arrived at about 8pm. Likho went outside. The next moment I heard the sounds of fighting and I rushed out.”

She said she found her brother in a scuffle with the establishment’s resident DJ.

His name is known to this publication.

“He was beating up my brother. I screamed at them to stop and managed to pull Likho away,” Nicho said, adding the DJ had a history of insulting and bullying her brother.

They left for home immediately.

“On the way back my brother started complaining of headaches from being punched,” she said.

At home, their elder sister Okuhle gave Likho pain medication and he went to bed.

“The next morning he did not wake up early like always. Likho was always the one in our house to wake up first. When we tried to wake him at about 10am he did not wake up and we called the ambulance,” said a heartbroken Okuhle.

“Likho was a special boy. He dropped out of school in 2020 when he was in grade 10 and we were working very hard to convince him to go back to school. It really seemed that this would be the year he listened. Now it is never going to happen.”

Nicho is struggling to cope after losing her twin.

We were always together. Two halves that make one. Now one half is gone. The last time I saw my brother was in Frere Hospital and now he is dead. We want justice for him.

—  Nicho Mandondo 

“We were always together. Two halves that make one. Now one half is gone. The last time I saw my brother was in Frere hospital and now he is dead. We want justice for him,” she said, adding she saw the DJ again last week.

“It was near Enyobeni tavern where the 21 kids died. He said my brother’s death wasn’t his fault and he did not care.

“I see him and my heart breaks. This is the man who did that horrible thing to my twin and now my brother is dead while he is still walking around free.”

With accusations of an inept and corrupt local police station still echoing after the Enyobeni tragedy, residents want action after Mandondo’s death.

“I don’t know what is going on with our police in Scenery Park. They are useless and everything is a mess,” a resident said on condition of anonymity.

“The station needs a cleanup, new blood, otherwise law and order will never be at home in Scenery Park,” said another.

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brig Thembinkosi Kinana said no arrests had been made in this matter.

“It is alleged the deceased had an altercation with a friend which led to him being assaulted with a fist. He was then taken to the hospital, while a case of assault was opened for investigation,” Kinana said.

He said Mandondo’s family informed police of his death three days later.

“The charge was then changed to murder,” Kinana said.

Ondela “Obama” Sokomani, a local ANCYL leader, said the police’s response made no sense.

“I can understand that they did not arrest the DJ while the victim was in hospital and unable to provide a statement, but by the time he passed away the police had already acquired several witness statements, some of them from family members, more than enough to make an arrest,” he said.

Sokomani believes a “war is being waged against the youth of his community”.

“It is clear the authorities have no control or lack the necessary zeal to quell what has become a criminal haven.”

Sokomani also took aim at the police and their minister, Bheki Cele.

“The sheer incompetence of the Scenery Park police station leaves us wondering if Cele will continue to blame victims of dreadful crimes for the incompetence of SAPS to swiftly respond to the needs of the community of Scenery Park, which include arresting, charging and detaining the alleged murderer of Likho Mandondo, who is still roaming the streets of the township freely.”

Sokomani said change was what was needed, not a blue-light brigade, visits and food parcels.

“No amount of parading of ad hoc resources like disaster funds, food parcel ceremonies, ministerial vehicles and high-profile political appearances will ever be responsive to the fundamental socioeconomic and material challenges that have enslaved the inhabitants of this country,” he said.

He had a message for his senior colleagues in government: “The people of this land require sustainable solutions which would be responsive to their daily needs. The provision of services and creation of better living conditions should be a way of life. The people of this country owe us nothing! We are indebted to them and we dare never betray our promise to totally liberate them from the bondages of the past.”