The families of the victims of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy in East London are calling for the owners to be prosecuted for murder.
The call was made in a memorandum to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), following Friday's court appearance of 52-year-old Siyakwamkela and his 43-year-old wife, Vuyokazi Ndevu, who are charged with liquor-related offences.
They pleaded not guilty and the matter was postponed to the 25th of April next year.
Presenting the memorandum to the NPA outside court on behalf of the families, representative Nkululeko Ncandana, passionately read out the demands, to which authorities have seven days to respond.
He explains why the families believe the Ndevu's need to face tougher charges.
"It is not lost on us that the tavern owners are currently being prosecuted on liquor-related offences, however, we feel more needs to be done to hold them accountable."
Ncandana said the families believe that the owners are ultimately responsible and that they should be prosecuted as such.
"Our children did not die of natural causes. We thus hereby demand that an inquest be held in terms of Section 5 of the Inquest Act. Finding closure and concrete answers as to what happened to our children is of paramount importance to us," he said.
"However, all state institutions will need to be held accountable for the failure to protect the citizenry by allowing the reckless sale of alcohol by the owners of Enyobeni tavern."
Ncandana, who presented the memorandum on behalf of the families of the deceased and the survivors, said they were now placing their faith in the judiciary to do all that's necessary to get to the bottom of what "cut the lives of our children short that fateful evening and causing injury to so many more children."
"We are calling on the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute the owners for murder or related offences. Failing that to fast-track the institution of an inquest in terms of the Inquest Act," he said.
Although a toxicology report into the death of the youngsters confirmed high amounts of ethanol in their blood their exact cause of death remains a mystery.
The tavern remains closed.
