Preparations are well under way for the funeral on Wednesday, of the 21 young people, including teenagers, that were killed a week ago at Enyobeni tavern, at Scenery Park in East London in the Eastern Cape.
Police are yet to release postmortem results on what caused the deaths.
The families of the deceased are said to have asked for a mass funeral.
Spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Community Safety Unathi Binqose says, “The government as a whole has agreed to accede to their wishes of having that mass funeral taking place right here in Scenery Park, to say goodbye, to say our final farewell to these 21 young lives in one funeral service. And of course, they’ll be allowed time to do the actual burial of their loved ones, in their separate places as they wish.”
The community says that they are still left confused and puzzled by the events that led to the deaths.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo City metro has confirmed that it has launched an investigation into the tavern as to whether the structure complied with safety regulations, and how it had been built in a place zoned as a residential area.
Community activist Samkela Jobela, says that they’re looking for answers.
“We are still left confused, that’s why we took a march on Friday, to go to these various authorities and institutions to tell us what were the findings, as to what had happened there. And obviously, as this has been declared as a national crisis, we were expecting some speed up in the process, but yet there is nothing, no engagement with the community. All we see is that the survivors and the families are being put back into that traumatic process again and again.”
A week since eNyobeni tavern tragedy: