Police failed to act on complaints against Enyobeni Tavern, officer tells court

Police sergeant Tabisa Kondile, attached to the Scenery Park police station, admitted to the court that police failed to take action against the Enyobeni owner though several complaints had been laid by the neighbours. She was testifying at the inquest to find who should be held responsible for the deaths of 21 young people at the tavern on 26 June 2022.

Kondile is a ‘flash’ officer at the police station dealing with liquor, secondhand goods and firearm-related matters. She told court that Scenery Park police officers knew about the complaints against Enyobeni Tavern since at least December 2021. “Before the incident occurred, in 2021, I received a call from Mr. Lizani who is an inspector at Liquor Board. He said he had just been phoned by a neighbour at Enyobeni complaining about loud music. I received the call at around 17h00 and I had already knocked off however he asked that I should go and check the situation,” Kondile said.

She testified that she found the tavern packed and the music playing very loudly; she asked to speak to the owner Mrs. Ndevu, but she wasn’t there and her husband was called from upstairs. He phoned his wife and called her to the tavern and she arrived in about 10 minutes. “I informed her that there was a complaint about loud music, [but] she did not respond – her husband did. Ndevu said there was no loud music playing; however, they lowered the volume though I asked that they switch it off.”

Kondile told the court this happened on a weekday and according to their trading hours loud music was not allowed. She said they also received complaints about the Ndevus not adhering to the 2 a.m. closing time on weekends.

Her testimony followed that of a neighbour, Nkosinathi Msutu who told the court that music at the tavern would play from 18h00 to 06h00 and sometimes 07h00. Like previous witnesses he said that minors would drink at the tavern.

State prosecutor Advocate Luvuyo Vena put it to Kondile that they should have acted as law enforcers. “It seems like the Ndevus were getting away with a lot – the last complaint was received five weeks before the tragedy. Would you agree with me if I say should you have acted the incident that occurred could have been avoided?” asked Vena.

The testimony of the neighbours indicated that there were no inspections or monitoring of the tavern, the prosecutor argued. “Even on the day of the incident at 2 a.m. when they were supposed to have closed, they were open,” he continued. Kondile admitted that despite the tavern not closing at 2 a.m. and being very noisy with patrons drinking outside, the police took no action, not even issuing a fine.

She told the court that in April 2022 there was a meeting with the tavern owners followed by a meeting with neighbours who were raising their frustrations with what was happening in their area. The neighbours submitted affidavits to her at the police station and she informed Mr. Lizani of the liquor board of the complaints. He asked that she ‘keep them safely’.

Earlier Msutu, described the living condition they endured during the operations of the tavern. He has lived in the area since 1996, and said things started to be discomforting from 2016 when the Ndevus started trading liquor. “The business affected us as neighbours badly; there was unbearable loud music, we could not watch TVs or listen to our own radios. The customers parked their cars in front of our yards and put alcohol on our fences. It was painful that we could not easily access or exit our homes. Sometimes people who are asthmatic or chronic could not be rushed to hospital,” he said.

Msutu said the neighbours called a meeting to address Siyakhangela Ndevu, husband of the owner, but their complaints fell on deaf ears. “I woke up one morning, my windowsill fell, and fencing wall had collapsed. The living conditions were so bad that we would have to clean after his clients. We found used sanitary towels and condoms in our yards and pathways,” he said.

He told the court that the tavern’s neighbours were never consulted by the Buffalo City municipality or the Eastern Cape liquor board in granting a licence to the couple to sell alcohol.

Earlier the Human Rights Commission after an investigation found that the Scenery Park police’s approach to the complaints received from the community was reactive rather than proactive, with meetings aimed at resolving issues rather than enforcing compliance. “A more assertive enforcement stance, coupled with proactive measures to address underlying issues, may have been more effective in curbing criminal activities and protecting community well-being,” the commission’s statement reads.