The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Ms Nonhlanhla Ncube-Ndaba, has noted from the announcement made by the Eastern Cape police and the Department of Health on Tuesday that all 21 teenagers who died in the Enyobeni tavern on 26 June in Scenery Park in East London had methanol in their blood.

According to the Eastern Cape Department of Health, blood test results to see if toxic levels of methanol had been ingested have not been released. The blood was tested for alcohol and carbon monoxide poisoning, but the levels were not high enough to cause death.

The committee is calling on the police to accelerate the investigations into the deaths of the 21 children, as the parents keenly await news of a definitive cause of the deaths of their children to bring some level of closure.

“Acceleration of the investigations and the disclosure of the real cause of the deaths of the 21 children in Enyobeni tavern will certainly translate into healing for the parents and relatives of the 21 children,” said Ms Ncube-Ndaba.