METRO GIVES SCENERY PARK A FACELIFT AS TAVERN TRAGEDY PUSHES TOWNSHIP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

JOHANNESBURG - Scenery Park township in East London where 21 youngsters died at Enyobeni tavern last weekend is getting a facelift, angering residents and making them question Buffalo City Metro’s sudden interest in fixing up the area.

Locals say the municipality has suddenly been hard at work tarring roads and fixing streetlights after the area was thrust into the global spotlight after the tragedy.

Motorists have been enduring traffic jams due to roadworks in the area leading to the tavern where 12 young girls and nine boys died.

The incident caught the attention of international news agencies around the globe, while local news crews have been camping out in Scenery Park following the youngsters’ mysterious deaths.

South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) regional treasurer Nomthunzi Mbiko said the sudden sprucing up of the township was a blatant insult to residents who’ve been living in the area.

Mbiko said: All of a sudden they are tarring roads, fixing potholes and streetlights. What were they waiting for all this time? They want to deceive the world to think they are doing their work.

Mbiko said the youngsters’ deaths inside the tavern could have been avoided had the metro invested in building recreational centres, parks and sport fields to keep youth out of taverns.

He said teenagers in the area had too much time on their hands and to pass time, they resorted to underage drinking at local taverns.

He added that even the grounds where they’ve been holding mass meetings at were fixed hours beforehand.

“They cut the grass. We now host our late meetings outdoors on vacant fields because the community hall has no electricity.”

Mbiko called on the government to declare Scenery Park a disaster area so funds could be allocated to build sport fields and facilities needed for the youth.