South Africa: Enyobeni Tavern Manager Arrested On Liquor Charge, but Still No Word On What Killed 21 Youngsters

On Sunday June 26, 2022, the South African Minister of Police General Bheki Cele (wearing hat) and the National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, led a high level delegation of crime scene experts and bomb disposal technicians to support the Eastern Cape Crime Scene Investigations teams at the scene of the mass deaths of teenagers at an East London tavern.
analysis

While some of the families of the youngsters who died in the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy on 26 June welcomed the arrest of the tavern manager and two employees for contravening the Liquor Act, they say they are still in agony over the failure of the police to find out how their children died.

Relatives of some of the 21 youngsters who died at the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park on 26 June are angry that they were not told of the arrest earlier this week of the manager of the establishment on charges of selling liquor to minors.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana confirmed late on Wednesday that they had arrested the husband of the owner. He apparently managed the tavern.

The manager was on the scene when the deaths of 21 young people were discovered. The other two people who were arrested are employees at the tavern. All have been released. The manager is due to appear in court on 19 August.

Grief and anger

The families said their grief and anger was compounded by the continued silence from authorities on what had killed their children. The teenagers died at the tavern while celebrating the end of exams.

The...

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