Enyobeni inquest to start next month

The NPA in the Eastern Cape says an inquest into the deaths of 21 young partygoers will sit for five days in the Mdantsane Regional Court.

 

It seeks to establish if anyone can be held criminally liable, by commission or omission, for the incident in June 2022.

 

A pen's down party at the Scenery Park establishment turned deadly, with the victims, most of them teenagers, suffocating due to overcrowding.

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NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said there will also be two assessors to help determine whether the renovated tavern building was structurally sound and to get an in-depth dissection of the autopsy reports.

 

A postmortem said the victims had injuries associated with being crushed and suffocated and a preliminary report found that they also had methanol in their blood.

 

More than 30 witnesses are expected to give evidence, including the tavern owners, Vuyokazi and Siyakhangela Ndevu, who were recently fined R5000 each for selling liquor to underage persons.

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