Relatives of Enyobeni Tavern tragedy victims have expressed frustration that the inquest into the cause of the death of the 21 young people has been postponed yet again.
After waiting from as early as 8am on Monday for what was expected to be the first day of calling witnesses to the stand in the Mdantsane regional court, the case was postponed shortly after 2pm to January for an assessment of the toxicology report to be arranged.
A subpoena also has to be issued to former tavern employee Thembisa Diko, who is popularly known as Regina.
On the sidelines, the families said the constant postponements were aggravating their heartache.
Speaking on behalf of the families, Ntombizonke Mgangala said they had been ready to hear the testimony of the first witness when they came to court on Monday.
The inquest will be held to determine if foul play led to the deaths on June 26 2022 and if anyone should be held liable.
The state has lined up about 40 witnesses, including eyewitnesses, experts and the police.
“I’m very frustrated,” Mgangala said.
“I came here today [on Monday] expecting that maybe I would hear some witnesses who we were promised would be here, but unfortunately it has been up and down.
“It looks like the court was not yet ready, so we are here frustrated not knowing what is happening.
“We are not from Mdansane. We come from East London and we have to take two taxis to get here, so imagine what it’s like travelling all the way for nothing.
“Most of us are not working, we are solely dependent on handouts.
“It’s the third or fourth time we have come here and the case is postponed. We don’t understand how these things work.”
She said they would continue coming to court.
“We are trying by all means not to be angry because the only thing that we want is justice for our children.”
Attorney Precious Daniel, who represents Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu, the operational manager and owner of the tavern, said: “I believe we are pushed to start prematurely because upon meetings with the state and the magistrate [on Monday], we came to a consensus that we need to appoint an assessor with regard to the toxicology report and to the postmortem report as well.
“We also saw that we needed to subpoena Regina [Diko] as one of the witnesses. We also saw there are outstanding documents that need to be provided to myself and my colleague [interested parties].
“Also, there's going to be a new prosecutor in the case.”
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