A complaint has been laid with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), calling for an independent inquiry into the deaths of 21 youngsters at the Enyobeni tavern on June 26.
Parents say they are willing to do whatever it takes to get answers to how their children died, with some prepared to have the bodies exhumed for further tests and investigations.
The Gauteng-based Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance last month met the parents and other bereaved relatives, who voiced their unhappiness at the government’s handling of the investigation.
The alliance, a network of NGOs that advocates for evidence-based alcohol policies, has laid a complaint with the SAHRC.
Ntombizonke Mgangala, the aunt of one of the victims, 18-year-old Sinothando Mgangala, said: “The organisation has promised to form a network of other partners to help us.
We will not find closure until the authorities have stopped lying. What is the government hiding?
— Xolile Malangeni, father of Esinako, 17
“We want them to assist us on matters involving alcohol policy because they have done a lot of work in that regard.”
In September, after weeks of postponements on the announcement of the results of toxicology tests conducted on the victims’ bodies, the health department finally met the bereaved families in West Bank, where they were told their children had died of suffocation.
The parents, who were unsatisfied with the explanation, were not given copies of the toxicology reports. They were told to go the legal route if they wanted a written report.
TimesLIVE Premium’s sister publication the Dispatch later gathered, through a reliable source from the health department, that the children had died from a combination of traumatic asphyxiation and poisoning from volatile substances.
Volatile substances are toxic chemicals such as methanol, but not carbon monoxide.
Mgangala said the families had no problem with the possibility that the bodies of the youngsters might have to be exhumed.
“We will go as far as that if we don’t get satisfactory answers about the deaths of our children. What the government told us is not a true reflection of what happened. The bodies of our children were bleeding. How can we trust that it is only suffocation that led to [their] deaths?”
Xolile Malangeni, father of Esinako, 17, said the family had still not found closure.
“Let the bodies be exhumed if it comes to the push because we want answers. It appears that all the undertakings by the government for a thorough investigation was just a talk-shop,” he said.
“We will not find closure until the authorities have stopped lying. What is the government hiding?
“They told us to apply if we want to get the full toxicology results. We are yet to be furnished with the whole toxicology results.”
The alliance wants to see a full independent inquiry into what happened, how it happened and why it happened. We want to see full accountability of all those involved
— Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance director Maurice Smithers
Alliance director Maurice Smithers said the Enyobeni tavern tragedy was a crime that should never have been allowed to happen.
“It happened because we don’t have appropriate, effective legislation; because ordinary people are disempowered and held hostage by those who sell and drink alcohol dangerously; because there was a failure by local, provincial and national government to ensure that we are an alcohol-safer country.
“The alliance wants to see a full independent inquiry into what happened, how it happened and why it happened. We want to see full accountability of all those involved.
“It is not enough to put all the blame on the tavern owners and, even then, to only charge them with minor offences under the Liquor Act. They are responsible for the deaths of 21 young people and must answer for that.”
Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said before an exhumation could take place, a local ward councillor, a funeral parlour, the district health office, police and a local magistrate needed to be informed.
Smithers said they wanted Enyobeni to be a name that would not be forgotten.
“It must be remembered by all, as Marikana is and as Life Esidimeni is. It must be a symbol, a reminder of the need to do something to prevent further Enyobenis.”
He said the Liquor Amendment Bill needed to be strengthened and made into law.
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