Probe into tavern ‘rights violations’
Bid to unravel what killed 21 youth
SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Eastern Cape is investigating possible human rights violations relating to the Enyobeni tavern tragedy which claimed the lives of 21 youngsters on June 26.
The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance, an NGO based in Gauteng which met the parents of the victims in October, lodged a complaint with the human rights commission, calling for a full independent inquiry into what exactly killed the young people in Scenery Park.
The commission’s provincial manager, Dr Eileen Carter, confirmed receiving the complaint from the alliance. It would be consolidated with an existing inquiry opened by the commission at the start of the tragedy.
“Pertinent issues are being raised from a systemic point of view which we are certainly looking at,” she said.
Today, the 21 Scenery Park families and civic organisations are set to march from the East London City Hall to the magistrate’s court where Enyobeni tavern owner Vuyokazi Ndevu and her husband, Siyakhangela Ndevu, are due to appear for allegedly contravening the Liquor Act.
The alliance has launched an online and hard-copy petition to collect the signatures of all of those who want to be part of the call for justice for the Scenery Park families.
The petition is available on https://awethu.amandla.mobi/website.
Earlier this month, alliance director Maurice Smithers said the Enyobeni tragedy was a crime that should never have been allowed to happen.
“It happened because we don’t have appropriate, effective legislation; because ordinary people are disempowered and held hostage by those who sell and drink alcohol dangerously; because there was a failure by the local, provincial and national governments to ensure that we are an alcoholsafe country,” Smithers said.
Xolile Malangeni, a parent of one of the victims, said parents were encouraged by the support they were receiving from community members.