JONATHAN JANSEN | It’s time we asked the real, brutal questions about the tavern tragedy

We need to look beyond the basic facts of carbon monoxide fumes if we want to fix SA society in the long term

29 June 2022 - 19:56

We still do not know what exactly killed 21, mainly teenagers, at the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, East London in the early hours of last Sunday morning. Yesterday there was speculation about carbon monoxide poisoning. Here is yet another case of incompetence writ large. Autopsy. Toxicology. Interviews. Corroboration. Simple methods to determine cause of death. We cannot even get that right. The Washington Post, writing from afar on June 27, seemed to know a lot more than our armies of journalists with fearsome reputations for investigatory journalism: “The working theory is that it was something that the teenagers ingested or inhaled.”..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.