Communities must unite against underage drinking

NOW THAT the initial shock of the recent tragedy in which the lives of eight young women were lost in a Khayelitsha tavern is over, a more considered analysis must take place.

Reports of this horrific case were widespread, the latest being that the families asked the city to pay for the funerals taking place in the Eastern Cape.

We must look to the deeper societal issues in order to prevent this happening again. Since when does it barely raise an eyebrow for women as young as 15 to be at a tavern, presumably drinking, till the wee hours of the morning?

I’m in my thirties now, and yes, we sometimes tried alcohol behind out parents’ back, but we never would have been allowed to go out until that time at 15. And things were safer then.

Where were the parents of these children? Sleeping? At the tavern themselves? And what about the broader community?

When are people going to start reporting establishments like this that clearly don’t meet any safety regulations?

It is our children that are going there, so if it looks unsafe from the outside or is in a residential neighbourhood or near a school, we must complain to the authorities.

I also don’t understand why the families are expecting the city to pay for their childrens’ funerals? Why should they? From my understanding, the government only pays for paupers’ burials to give everyone some kind of dignity. This applies to unknown people who are found dead and alone. Not to people with families.

I agree with the Social Justice Coalition that all the taverns in Khayelitsha must be carefully examined. And any that are breaking the law must be shut down. But families, communities and young people themselves must start taking some responsibility.