The owner of the Enyobeni tavern and his wife are expected to appear in the Magistrate’s Court in East London, on Friday.
Siyakhangela Ndevu and his wife, Vuyokazi Ndevu, are facing charges of allowing underage patrons in their establishment and selling alcohol to them.
The wife is appearing in court as she is the holder of the liquor license.
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board, which is the one that laid these charges against the pair, says it is pleased with the manner in which the case going.
“We are very excited that we are at this stage. We are looking forward to the final prosecution of the manager and the registrant. l can only say we are hoping for a stiff sentence and we really looking forward. We don’t know what to expect, but let’s go and see what happens,” says Eastern Cape Liquor Board’s Spokesperson, Mgwebi Msiya.
Parents of Enyobeni tragedy victims outraged at how government has handled the case
The Eastern Cape government is struggling to defend itself from criticism of the way it has handled the Enyobeni tavern tragedy following public outrage.
Parents and relatives of the victims of the tavern in Scenery Park, East London, say they had hoped the toxicology results would help them find closure.
They are seeking legal opinion over the results they received on how their children died. The parents and relatives say they were told that suffocation was ruled as the cause of death.
21 young people died at the tavern in June. Methanol was discovered in all the bodies of the deceased, but was ruled out as the cause of death.
The Provincial government’s Spokesperson, Siyanda Manana says they have not handed the document of toxicology results to the bereaved families because it’s confidential. However, the process now has been completed.
“We looked at everything from a legal perspective and the press conferences and everything, and then we then told the Health Department that your mandate was this, what you were supposed to do is hand over and that’s what we actually did. It’s a confidential document. The contents you can tell them verbally and do it morally, but do not say it because it has got to follow this particular step from there.” explains Manana.
– Additional report by SAFM
