Mass funeral for Enyobeni tavern victims to take place in Eastern Cape

A mass funeral for the 21 victims who died in the Enyobeni tavern tragedy last month is expected to be held in Scenery Park Sports Field in East London on Wednesday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to attend the mass funeral service. He will be joined by the province’s Premier Oscar Mabuyane.

Thousands of young teenagers had attended a massive party to mark the end of term at the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park.

It’s understood that the Enyobeni tavern did not have the venue capacity to host an event of that magnitude.

Tavern owner Siyakhangela Ngevu is facing criminal charges, although he said he was not present when the tragedy occurred.

ALSO READ: Enyobeni tragedy: Tavern owner to face criminal charges – ECLB

Ngevu claims he received a call from security guards around 1 am on Sunday, 26 June, informing him about the chaos at his tavern.

“I received a call that people were entering the gate by force and the situation was out of control.

“I rushed back here and when I arrived, I found that people were getting into the tavern by force and security was struggling to handle the situation,” he said.

According to the Enyobeni tavern owner, most of the youngsters who arrived at his outlet came from various “pens down” parties in the area to mark the end of their June examinations.

“These are kids who came from their pens down parties and they arrived here around 12 am and that’s when the chaos started.”

Police said on Sunday morning, at about 4 am, they received a report of the lifeless bodies of the teenagers at a local tavern in the area.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe

NOW WATCH: Inside Eastern Cape tavern before tragedy struck