A commemoration event was held to remember the youngsters who died at Enyobeni tavern last year.
PHOTO: Malibongwe Dayimani, News24
- Around 700 schoolchildren converged on the beachfront for a chaotic party.
- Many drank until they could not stand on their feet and others passed out on lawns and pavements.
- Five were treated in hospital for complications related to excessive drinking.
A drunk boy allegedly attacked an anti-child trafficking group for trying to break up a party, which was attended by about 700 underage drinkers, on the East London beachfront on Saturday night.
The visibly intoxicated child, according to the CEO of Let Us Find Them, Lonwabo Yiliwe, pelted the organisation’s bakkie.
He said the minor struck his vehicle with an empty Castle Lite beer bottle, which caused a small dent to the organisation’s car.
Yiliwe told News24 his organisation sprang into action because the children could be easy targets for child traffickers.
Five underage drinkers were treated in hospital and 50 more were rescued by Yiliwe’s team, with the assistance of the local security cluster.
The children were taken to their homes, or to hospitals, to sober up.
He relayed these details on Monday at the one-year commemoration ceremony for the 21 victims of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy.
Yiliwe said parents had no idea their children were out and about.
“I would knock on the door and ask mamas where [their] child was, and the response would be that she/he was in bed in their room. I would then show them that the child was with me, to their horror,” Yiliwe said.
READ | ‘Where is the president?’ ask parents at commemoration event for Enyobeni tavern tragedy
Seven hundred teenagers descended on the Esplanade area in East London, where many drank until they could not stand on their feet, said the spokesperson for the Buffalo City metro, Samkelo Ngwenya.
Many passed out on lawns and pavements.
Metro Law Enforcement, Traffic, Fire and Disaster Management services, assisted by the police, had its hands full rescuing the minors from potential harm.
Ngwenya said:
Following the Enyobeni tragedy, it is important for parents to take responsibility for their children’s actions and whereabouts, and make it their business to monitor their children’s movements.
He said the safety and security cluster condemned any action by schoolchildren to use alcohol as a celebratory norm for school closures, school exams and school reopenings.
“We commend tavern/club/shebeen/bottle store owners who took responsibility to comply with their licence conditions and made sure that no underage children were allowed to access to their premises,” said Ngwenya.
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board (ECLB) has been hard at work, conducting underage drinking awareness programmes across the province.
ECLB spokesperson Mgwebi Msiya said a scientific study needed to be done to understand the underlying factors that influence children to drink.