Mbashe Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Samkelo Janda, has cautioned that the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy in Scenery Park, East London, where 21 teenagers mysteriously died on June 26, should serve as a wake-up call to other municipalities to strengthen their by-laws and intergovernmental relations, to avert a similar disaster happening elsewhere in the province.
Janda made the remarks as he gave a welcoming address during the Amathole District Municipality’s state of the district address, held in Dutywa, in the Mbhashe Local Municipality, on June 28.
“The Enyobeni Tavern tragedy should serve as a wake-up call for us, as the local government sphere, to strengthen our governance structures to avert a similar tragedy happening elsewhere in the province,” Janda said.
“The tragedy that befell the Buffalo City Metro (where Enyobeni Tavern is located) is something we are noticing ourselves within our local municipality, where we see underage children abusing alcohol and liquor traders selling alcohol to underage children.
“As the municipality, we have already started to enforce our by-laws using our law enforcement unit working together with the South African Police Service,” Janda added.
He further called on all stakeholders, such as the Eastern Cape Liquor Board, the police, business owners and government, to play their part to prevent a similar tragedy happening elsewhere.
Janda bemoaned the loss of young lives in the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy, especially as the tragedy happened as the country was still in the Youth Month of June.
“The tragedy happened as we were moving towards the closure of the Youth Month, and we were hoping the deceased would make a meaningful contribution to the future of the country and their families,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape police have cautioned against peddling of false information on the cause of deaths of the 21 youths who died in the tragedy, saying that investigations to ascertain this were ongoing.
“As indicated earlier, at an appropriate time and when an official report has been made available by the experts, the families and members of the public will be informed by the relevant authorities.
“We urge people to refrain from making risky assumptions which do not assist our investigations,” said Eastern Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nomthetheli Mene, in a statement last week.
