The trial of the owners of the infamous Enyobeni tavern will continue in the East London Magistrates Court on Thursday
Tavern owners, Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu are charged with selling alcohol to underage persons and for allegedly contravening the Liquor Act.
Twenty-one young people died at their tavern in June last year while celebrating what is known as a "pens-down-party".
Two witnesses, a patron and a bouncer, testified on Wednesday.
The first, Sinemihlali Haba, was just 17 years old when he attended the party at the Scenery Park tavern in June last year.
The teenager swore under oath that he had frequented the tavern prior to the night in question, and was allowed to enter and buy liquor from the establishment despite being underage.
The second witness, Thembisa Diko, had served as a bouncer at the establishment for just over a year.
She testified that on the night, she was forced to abandon her duties and went drinking inside instead when patrons started violently pushing in.
According to Diko, there were only three bouncers handling hundreds of patrons, some apparently as young as 10.
She said she had warned Siyakhangela of the tavern being overcrowded, an hour before people started suffocating and jumping out of windows to escape.
In her testimony, she said she was forced to abandon her duties and later saw people "dropping like flies".
Previously, Haba had testified that they were unable to exit the tavern when the chaos unfolded, as a bouncer was holding the door shut from the outside to prevent more people from entering.
He said he had to punch the bouncer three times, before the people pushing and shoving, gasping for air rushed out, colliding with those pushing to get in.
A drunk Haba fainted once outside and woke up to the shocking news of the deaths.
Angry parents outside the court said while the trial was underway, they were very still very unhappy, as the criminal part of the case was still unanswered.
As a result, the parents have vowed to go to the forensic offices in East London on Thursday to demand they be shown the pathology tests indicating why their children died.
Last year, the parents were allegedly denied access to the post-mortem results and only told that there was a presence of methanol in the blood of the deceased.
At the time, Dr Litha Matiwane, the Deputy Director General for Clinal Services at the Department of Health, highlighted three findings in the blood results.
He said blood alcohol levels among the deceased ranged from 0.05 g to 0.26 grams per 100 ml, which in itself is not conclusive of lethal toxicology.
Dr Matiwane said the blood results also confirmed the presence of carbon monoxide, ranging from 3.3% to 21% of saturation of haemoglobin, adding that levels would be considered above 50%.
He said the third finding was that of methanol in the blood of all 21 deceased.
However, progressive analysis was still being undertaken on the levels of methanol and whether it was lethal enough to cause death.
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board will testify when the trial resumes.
