LATEST VIDEOS | Enyobeni tavern — the heartbreak, shock and tears

On Sunday morning police minister Bheki Cele visited Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park, East London, after learning that 21 patrons had died mysteriously there. Two other people are in critical condition. Cele was overcome with emotion and couldn't stop the tears.

Cele said outside the Woodbrook mortuary that what he saw inside the tavern was shocking. Parents flocked to the mortuary to see their children, many crying hysterically.

The cause of the deaths at the tavern is not yet known. Speculation was that the patrons had been poisoned or that an incident had contributed to a large number of people being killed in a stampede. 

Stunned parents who had come to the tavern after the incident were standing in groups trying to process what had happened.

Cele advised parents to take responsibility for their children's whereabouts to avoid such incidents. This was after he discovered the tavern was allegedly regularly visited by a large number of minors, some as young as 13. 

“I live with my boy who is in university in Cape Town. He came home after 11pm on Friday night and I sat him down and told him you don’t come home after 11pm,” Cele said.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times . Just R20 for the first month.