PARENTS of Enyobeni Tavern victims are disappointed with the sentence imposed on the tavern owners.
This after the owners of Enyobeni Tavern, Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu, were ordered by the East London Magistrates Court on Friday, 23 February to pay a fine of R5 000 each or spend 100 days in prison for selling liquor to persons under the age of 18.
The couple has been in and out of court since they were arrested in August 2022 after 21 young people died under mysterious circumstances in the tavern in Scenery Park, Eastern Cape.
Delivering his judgment, Magistrate Kevin Von Bratt said: “As far as the evidence is established, the accused were not personally selling the alcohol to anybody. We established beyond reasonable doubt that at least one minor was sold alcohol at Enyobeni on the night in question.
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“It'll be extremely unusual for the maximum penalties to be imposed on the first-time offender. The state did mention that the option of a guilty fine was offered to the accused, so clearly, the state had no issue with the imposition of the fine for this offence. After balancing all the emphasis as fairly as possible and considering the application that has been made as well as the interest of the community, each of the accused is sentenced to a fine of R5 000 or 100 days in prison."
One of the parents, Ntombizodwa Magagula, said: "I'm not happy at all with the sentence. I expected a harsher one. Although the sentence didn't refer to the death of our children, we were expecting the court to send a strong message to tavern owners who continue to sell liquor to minors. Despite the sentence imposed on the Ndevus, they'll continue to act in the same manner."
A formal inquest into the deaths of 21 young people is still to commence in the Mdantsane Regional Court.
