Bheki Cele tavern shooting

Police Minister Bheki Cele. Photograph: Flickr

East London tavern tragedy: Top forensics team probing deaths

Bheki Cele, who was in East London, said the team will soon be able to shed some light on what happened to the teenagers in that tavern

Bheki Cele tavern shooting

Police Minister Bheki Cele. Photograph: Flickr

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has roped in a high-level team of forensic investigators to investigate the deaths of the more than 20 young people who were found inside an East London tavern, Minister Bheki Cele has said.

Cele was in the area just hours after the tragedy unfolded, to be briefed on what exactly happened.

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Bheki Cele said the team will soon be able to shed some light on what happened to the youngsters as there is still some mystery surrounding the cause of death. An eyewitness whose relative relayed the details to Algoa FM, claimed that pepper spray was deployed. The 15-year-old girl, who was celebrating the end of exams in the Enyobeni tavern, says ‘chaos broke out’ after this incident, with many left ‘choking and coughing’.

“We have brought in a special forensic team from the police in Pretoria … They are a top team that will tell us if it was poison but we need to come back to this area to see what is happening in the shebeens and not only come back once they have killed our kids,” Cele said.

The minister also called out parents for not keeping an eye on their children, in the wake of the tragedy and has also called on police to check for lawlessness in such instances. According to community members living in the township where the tavern is situated, the establishment even sells alcohol to minors and doesn’t care about the safety of customers. There have since been growing calls for the tavern’s liquor licence to be revoked.

“We need to check if they adhere to the laws but that is on us as police to ensure this happens. The call is on the government as the liquor board, the municipalities and the parents to ensure their kids are well. The call is on the community to say we can’t allow our kids to die,” 

Police Minister Bheki Cele