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All Enyobeni Tavern tragedy victims have been identified

30 June 2022, 8:13 AM |

Nomalizo Mandela | @SABCNews

Police cordon off a crime scene.

Image: Pixabay

Police cordon off a crime scene.

The Eastern Cape Health Department has confirmed that the last body of the 21 victims of the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy has been identified.

Health spokesperson Yonela Dekeda says this means all bodies have been identified and released to families.

The tragic death of the teenagers aged between 13 and 17 happened at a Scenery Park tavern on Sunday morning.

Provincial police spokesperson Thembinkosi Kinana says they are still awaiting the forensic results to verify the cause of death.

He says reports that a poisonous chemical is suspected to have caused the deaths are unfounded as specimens extracted from the bodies have been sent to a forensic laboratory for toxicology tests.

“At this stage, there is no truth to these reports. What we are saying as the SAPS, the only official platform that is going to be informing the public and the relevant families is the SAPS after the report has been made available by the relevant authorities. As it is now we have not spoken about the cause of death because there is no report suggesting anything in that regard.”

Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana speaks to SAfm Sunrise’s Stephen Grootes:

Residents want Enyobeni Tavern owner to explain why minors were allowed to consume alcohol

Several Eastern Cape residents are calling on the owner of the Enyobeni Tavern to provide reasons behind teenagers being allowed to consume alcohol on their business premises.

Investigations are underway into the possible cause of the tragedy.

Ntombizonke Mgangala’s 17-year-old child is among those who passed away.

“I am asking myself how could a parent – because I want to believe that he/she is a parent like myself – in this cruel world of drugs and substance abuse, how could a parent or someone in the business allow young people or children, because these are children, how could she offer alcohol to children free of charge? What was the motive behind the action?”

Mgangala says she was surprised to learn that her teenager had gone to the tavern.

“She was 17 years old and it came as a surprise that she was at the tavern. She had some money that she was saving and she said she was going to take the money and use it on the 25th of June. All of a sudden she said she was going with her friends and she was going to come back. She then disappeared. We then tried to look for her but we couldn’t get her. “

A discussion on the incident :