Premier blasted for ‘shambolic’ Enyobeni briefing
‘Unqualified’ Mabuyane led discussion on possible cause of tavern deaths
● Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has been blasted for leading a technical discussion on the possible causes of the deaths of 21 youths in the Enyobeni tavern tragedy in Scenery Park, East London, on June 26.
Officials who criticised Mabuyane said that, as painful as it was, the families of the deceased need to wait for the process to be completed with a final determination on the cause of the deaths by a presiding officer at an inquest hearing.
Even then, officials said, the families “will not be happy with some of the reasons which will be given for the deaths”.
Three senior government officials — one in the SAPS, one from the national department of justice and one from the Eastern Cape health department — said on Friday that the statements by politi- cians had created a shambolic scenario.
They were speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
“Honestly, they [the politicians] were supposed to leave us alone to do our jobs like any other inquest. They are just interfering,” the health official said.
The SAPS official said: “An inquest will be held. All the evidence will be presented. Politicians are causing confusion — Mabuyane does not have the medical background to make an informed statement on this subject.”
Mabuyane’s utterances were “all about grandstanding”, said the official, while acknowledging there was “a lot of pressure” from the community for answers, forcing politicians to venture outside their areas of expertise.
“Why doesn’t the public wait for the inquest so the court makes a pronouncement? The public will get answers.”
Mabuyane, police minister Bheki Cele and health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth have led government efforts to address the trauma of the victims’ families, promising that forensic pathology tests will be expeditiously processed at state laboratories and shared with the families and public.
Dribs and drabs of information have confirmed or ruled out factors contributing to the tragedy — a stampede and overconsumption of alcohol have been ruled out, while methanol has been named as being present in blood specimens taken from the deceased.
In spite of the promised openness, families of the victims were invited on Thursday to individual briefings with health officials where a verbal explanation was given for the deaths, with no documentation to back it up.
Eastern Cape health spokesperson Siyanda Manana told journalists that due to legal advice the department could not publicly disclose the cause of death.
A justice official said on Friday: “Unfortunately there has been [so much] speculation and uncertainty surrounding the cause of death and who should be accountable that it’s just not possible to say anything to the parents to give them a sense of comfort or closure.
“A proper investigation by a forensic team and intensive questioning of every patron at that tavern that night and from early on in the day, including the workers at the tavern, must unearth what really transpired.
“I’m not sure whether samples from sealed alcohol bottles and opened ones were taken and sent to forensics for testing.”
Apart from the forensic pathology reports, evidence would also be gathered from the many hours of video footage available from the tavern’s security system, and reports from all officials who responded to the emergency that Sunday morning.
Eastern Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the
police investigating officer had not yet submitted a docket to the prosecuting authority for a decision.
“If we feel there is a prima facie case for someone to answer … we will make a decision for that person to be charged.”
Tyali confirmed that “given the magnitude of this matter”, senior public prosecutor in East London Gugulethu Mampofu and investigating officer Lt Col Zingisa Majova were already interacting, with Mampofu providing “guidance” on the investigation.
Asphyxiation or suffocation is the most probable direct cause of death.
One of the challenges is the ease with which terminology has been bandied about by politicians and officials in an attempt to explain the cause of death and contributing factors.
This appears to have been the case at Thursday’s flawed feedback session when officials’ explanations of technical medical terminology such as “traumatic crush syndrome” and “medical asphyxia” were not properly understood by family members.
For the families, the reference to “crush” appeared to be a reversal of a previous government statement that no stampede occurred in the venue before the youths died.
Ntombizonke Mgangala, 17-year-old Sinothando Mgangala’s aunt, said after Thursday’s briefing that the parents were told the youths were crushed and suffocated, which seemingly contradicted previous statements ruling out the theory of the victims being crushed in a stampede.
However, two of the Sunday Times sources said “crush” injury in a medical context was a technical finding with diverse causes, including nontraumatic causes, such as ischemia, when oxygenated blood flow to a body part or organ stops or when a toxic substance is present.
As the youngsters in the tavern were deprived of oxygen, their body tissues and organs would have collapsed, mimicking a crushing effect.
One of the officials consulted said: “Based on toxicology and all other investigations, the possibility of anybody having an intention to have the kids murdered or killed ... has been excluded. It’s just an unfortunate situation that happened”.
The presence of methanol in the pathology samples remains a red flag. One official said the levels were not fatal, but another said methanol toxicity as a factor contributing to death could not be excluded.
Other contributing factors were the large crowd in a confined space, cold weather, a generator in use due to load-shedding, alcohol consumption and possible comorbidities among the young people, such as asthma.
Police have also not covered themselves in glory during the investigation. A Western Cape forensic official disclosed that an unnamed Eastern Cape police investigating officer erroneously arranged in June to send the victims’ pathology samples for toxicology analysis to the SAPS forensic laboratory in Plattekloof, Cape Town.
That laboratory does not conduct such tests, which are typically done by the National Health Laboratory Service in the city.
An inquest will be held. All the evidence will be presented. Politicians are causing confusion — Mabuyane does not have the medical background to make an informed statement on this subject
SAPS official