BREAKING | Health department refuses to release ‘confidential’ Enyobeni cause of death

Mourners at the mass funeral for the 21 children killed at Enyobeni Tavern’s on June 26.
Mourners at the mass funeral for the 21 children killed at Enyobeni Tavern’s on June 26.
Image: ALAN EASON

Eastern Cape health department has decided to remain mum to the public regarding the toxicology results of the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy in anticipation of “legal processes that might follow.”

Families of the 21 youngsters who died at the Scenery Park tavern on June 26 were called to gather at health department's district offices in West Bank, East London, in order to get the final toxicology results.

Two family members have told the Dispatch that the authorities told them that the cause of death was suffocation as a result of overcrowding at the tavern.

Provincial health spokesperson Siyanda Manana would neither confirm nor deny the claims by parents when he addressed the media on Thursday afternoon.

“The cause of death is a confidential document. We have sought a legal opinion over the matter and we were advised not to disclose the results (to the media).

“There is nothing sinister about that. The parents will receive the results,” Manana said.

He said parents were being offered counselling “as we brief them, individually, about the results”.

Khululekile Ncandana, whose son Bhongolwethu was one of those who died, said: “Parents are being briefed one by one by the authorities.”

One parent, told the Dispatch: “We are not happy about the whole process. For six, they have only briefed only eight parents. We are being taken for a ride here.”

The parents are currently still locked in a meeting and have undertaken to address the media as a united group once their discussion has ended.

This is a developing story.

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