What exactly is it that killed those 21 youngsters at Enyobeni tavern on June 26? Incomprehensibly, unforgivably, the government continues to fudge the explanation.
On Thursday the parents of the deceased were summoned to the health department offices in West Bank. Many of them believed all the puzzle pieces of that sad incident would finally come together.
To their horror, they were left even more perplexed after being told their children had died of suffocation.
The answer is no different from any of the speculations that have been peddled around since June 26, day one of this sorry tragedy that continues to unfold.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the parents were called in one by one to receive the outcome, ostensibly because the results of each victim were different.
It seems many, perhaps all, of them were given the same answer: suffocation.
Why would such a document be kept secret from the parent of a minor? Why must these bereaved people now fight through all this red tape?
To rub salt into the wound, the department is withholding written records; neither are they availing CCTV footage so parents may view what transpired that night.
The Eastern Cape health department has told parents they can apply via the Promotion of Access to Information Act to see their own children's postmortem results.
What? While we all respect the privacy of patient information, why would such a document be kept secret from the parent of a minor?
Why must these bereaved people now fight through all this red tape to know what killed their children?
In time, even a grieving parent can accept loss. At this stage all these parents are asking for is factual knowledge so that they can find closure. Surely this could be treated with a modicum of dignity and respect.
What is the point of raising hopes again and again that the answers will be given, only to dash them at the last minute?
Thursday was not the first time these parents were summoned to meet authorities for what turned out to be a non-event.
At the end of July, in Cambridge Hall, there was a big buildup, only to be told “what did not kill their children”, and that more tests would be done on the methanol that had been found in the blood samples.
The department says it decided not to release the report to the public in anticipation of “legal processes that might follow”.
Why are they already anticipating this?
On Friday health minister Joe Phaahla told the nation he would be demanding an explanation from the provincial department.
We hope President Cyril Ramaphosa steps in too, and that civil society organisations with muscle and credibility will oversee their intervention.
These parents deserve better. We all want to know the truth.
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