By: Natasha Archary
The East London Regional Court has found the Enyobeni Tavern owners guilty of selling alcohol to minors and is expected to make a sentencing on Friday, 23 February.
On Wednesday, 21 February Siyakhangela and his wife Vuyokazi Ndevu, owners of the East London tavern were found guilty of contravening the Liquor Act.
This after 21 teenagers under the age of 18-years, died at the tavern on Sunday, 26 June 2022.
The victims were found sprawled across the floor, chairs, and tables, the youngest teenager was just 13-years old.
While Vuyokazi stated that she was not present on the night of the incident, her husband denied selling alcohol to the teenagers that night.
Magistrate Kevin von Bratt however, said the owners should have done more to ensure that there were no patrons under the age of 18 were allowed into their establishment.
“It’s clear that there was no policy of checking ages or IDs. Accused No.1 (Siyakhangela) like all of us, is perfectly aware that you cannot tell a person’s age just by looking at them.
They (the owners) did not take sufficient precautions, they did not do everything which could reasonably have been expected of them under the circumstances to prevent underage drinking.
The law is perfectly clear that just telling people not to do it is insufficient, they should have monitored this, they should have checked this.
The two accused on that basis are convicted of 1 contravention of Section 38 subsection A of the Eastern Cape Liquor Act 10 of 2003.”
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