The owner and operational manager of Enyobeni Tavern in the Eastern Cape were found guilty of selling alcohol to a minor in the East London regional court on Wednesday.
Also read: Enyobeni tavern tragedy update: Methanol and Carbon Monoxide found
Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu were charged with selling or supplying alcohol-intoxicating liquor to persons under the age of 18 and with responsibility for conniving with and permitting employees and agents to sell or deliver intoxicating liquor to persons under the age of 18 years.
Magistrate Kevin von Bratt stated that despite the lack of evidence proving the sale of alcohol to minors, Sinemihlali Haka, who testified during the trial that alcohol was sold to them, was 17 in June 2022, when 21 young people died at the tavern.
The group lost their lives under mysterious circumstances, and it was later revealed that methanol, a toxic alcohol used industrially as a pesticide, in solvents, and in alternative fuel sources, was found in all 21 deceased’s bloodstreams.
Both Ndevus pleaded not guilty to the charges, TimesLIVE reports. During the trial, both stated that they instructed their employees not to sell alcohol to minors. However, Bratt said this was not enough.
‘The actual allegation the two are facing is that one Sinemihlali Haka, who was underage at the time he was sold [liquor] at the Enyobeni tavern on the evening in question, not that the accused sold alcohol to him or that they were aware of the fact that it was being sold to him,’ the magistrate stated.
‘But I have no reason whatsoever to doubt that he was indeed sold alcohol at Enyobeni that evening.’
‘He was 17 at the time. No attempt was made to verify his age. This obviously was an offence in terms of the [Liquor Act] and as such the two accused would be legally liable for that offence.’
‘It is overwhelmingly obvious from all the evidence that a lot of young people, most of them probably underage even if we don’t have specific names and ages, were present at Enyobeni.’
‘It is obvious this was tolerated by the accused, and there was no proper access control. Not a single person who testified here was asked for his age and had anyone else asked of [their] age despite the fact that minors were on the premises.’
‘I’m probably not alone in suspecting that a lot of young children might have been sold alcohol there. But while the evidence is strongly suggestive, I don’t think it has been proven beyond result that any other minor was sold alcohol.’
‘The court cannot, in a criminal matter, rely on suspicions or probabilities. In conclusion, the court finds the two accused are legally responsible. For the sale of alcohol to at least one underage person, you are found guilty.’
The pair will be sentenced on Friday.
Also read:
Twenty dead in Eastern Cape tavern tragedy, cause still unknown
Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery