The Enyobeni Tavern Tradegy. Hard News Story

Enyobeni tavern tragedy: 21 teens dead, 4 injured.

(By: Kamogelo Tselane, 19 Aug 2022.)

EASTERN CAPE- 21 teenagers faced their untimely deaths at the Enyobeni tavern in the Eastern Cape on June 26^th when they inhaled what toxicologists revealed to be a toxic gas.

It is common in South Africa for high school learners to celebrate completing their mid-year or end of year exams. This celebration named “pens down” usually takes place outside of school and in establishments where underaged persons are not allowed.

The pens down celebration is quite dangerous as the teenagers consume alcohol and engage in unruly behaviour due to not being able to tolerate being under the influence of alcohol. Parents and the police try their best to put an end to this ritual, but they hardly succeed.

On Saturday night leading up to Sunday June 26^th, 2022, the teenagers of Scenery Park near East London in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, participated in the annual pens down celebration. The celebration took place at the Enyobeni Tavern, a two-storey drinking establishment that is notorious around the area.

The building in the past has been reported multiple times to the authorities by residents for its noise, late opening hours, and the behaviour of the patrons from there. To the residents’ disbelief, Enyobeni continued operating regardless of their complaints.

Another issue that concerns the community about the tavern is that is illegally sells alcohol to minors. A few weeks prior to the tragedy, a Facebook post that promoted the pens down party made the rounds, inviting all young people to attend. The term “kuzofiwa” was questioned and raised suspicion after the tragedy took place. Residents were speculating whether the teenagers were killed intentionally as the term refers to both dying, and in slang to having an amazing time.

On the 25^th of June, young people started to fill the establishment. Initially, the place was crowded but there was control over the attendees and everything was going well. A 17-year-old Sinethemba whose name has been changed to protect her identity, and who was one of those attendees and a survivor of the disaster, narrates the incident to Al Jazeera News.

She stated that at around 00:00, midnight of Sunday the 26^th, the place became overcrowded, and they were instructed to leave the place, but nobody left. It was overcrowded to a point where the air was hot, and it was impossible to move with a group of people pushing you from behind and others pushing you from the opposite direction.

                                 

Underaged patrons overcrowded at Enyobeni tavern on the 26^th of June 2022.

She added that “a security guard then closed the doors and sprayed a chemical into the crowd”. Sinethemba said that the chemical made it impossible for the people inside to breathe and that it “smelled like gas”.

Another witness claimed to have been robbed of his belongings including his phone and money amidst the incident. Many of the witnesses and survivors revealed that they assumed that the gas in the air was probably pepper spray and that it wasn’t deadly. Others thought it was tear gas. 

The third 19-year-old witness shared with Agence France-Presse, “we tried moving through the crowd, shouting ‘please let us through’, and others were shouting ‘we are dying, guys’, and ‘we are suffocating’ and ‘there are people who can’t breathe” she said. She then passed out a few moments later.

Inside the venue, there was commotion. Due to the doors being closed, the crowd started pushing forward, pressing those in front of the doors against them. Most of the teenagers were passing out, some dropping dead to the ground, and others were fighting for their lives.

All of the witnesses reported seeing piles of unconscious bodies all over the floor, on the tables, and on the staircases. No authority was present, the security claimed to have fled for their lives in order to avoid being stampeded. It was a traumatizing scenery for the survivors to see their peers dying mysteriously.

At around 04:00 a.m., 4 hours after the disaster started, a witness called the police to report multiple deaths at Enyobeni. When the police and forensic teams arrived at the scene, 17 bodies in total were discovered, the youngest one was 13 years old. Two victims died at the local clinic, and two other victims died enroute to the hospital. Four teenagers sustained injuries but survived.

 Forensic teams and the police at Enyobeni tavern on the 26^th of June 2022.

On Sunday the 26^th of June, the news about the Enyobeni tavern tragedy made it public, and the topic was trending all over social media platforms, mostly on Twitter. Users were sharing information about the incident, while the majority of people were shocked at the ages of the patrons that were there.

People partitioned for the owner of the tavern to be held accountable and be arrested. They found it questionable that underaged persons were allowed in the premises of the establishment, and that they were sold alcohol.

The owner of the tavern Siyakhangela Ndevu claimed that on the night of the incident at his tavern, he was absent as he had other commitments. He added that he was informed by one of his employees through a phone call around 01:00 a.m. that there was “chaos” at his tavern, he said. He is known for either refusing to comment on the matter that took place, or being defensive about it.

Ndevu was contacted by the investigative show Checkpoint for an interview 2 weeks afterwards, to answer for the shocking deaths of young people at his establishment. After agreeing and talking to a journalist, Ndevu in excitement praised himself and called himself a celebrity. This shocking act showed the public that he was not remorseful, he was rather excited for the attention he was receiving, even under such circumstances.

It is quite common for social media users to have different opposing opinions. Therefore, other people put the blame on the parents of the victims and on the deceased victims themselves instead of the tavern owner.

One of the things that made the public feel unsettled about this incident was that nobody knew the actual cause behind the multiple deaths of those young people. The forensic pathologists knew that whatever was the cause of their deaths, was something that they inhaled or ingested. But they could not point it out.

The initial toxicology report showed that there was methanol in the deceased victims’ bodies. However, this was not concluded as the cause of death. Uproar took place on social media with people urging the police force and the government to get to the bottom of the situation.

There were many theories on what could have killed the teenagers. While some people even went to an extent of suspecting terrorism in the country, after similar tavern deaths took place after that. The most believed theory was that the victims did not have enough oxygen, therefore they died due to not being able to breathe.

On July 6^th, a mass funeral was held for the victims of the tragedy. One of the people who attended was the president of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. The president reassured the families of the deceased that justice shall be served, and that such incidents will be prevented from happening in the future.

Police minister Bheki Cele who also was present at the mass funeral stated that an investigation is still underway, to find the cause of death for the 21 victims. Two months after the event, it is still not officially known what exactly caused the deaths at Enyobeni.

Siyakhangela Ndevu appeared in court for the first time on Friday the 19^th of August for selling alcohol to minors. Multiple protests have taken place in East London, with desperate parents and the community urging the police to release the cause of their children’s deaths and to arrest Ndevu. Members of the Scenery Park community believe that Ndevu and his tavern Enyobeni are a danger to the area, and the society at large.