“We still don’t know exactly what killed our children. But we do know that the law was broken that night, and probably many nights before that,” Ramaphosa told more than a thousand mourners at the East London funeral for the youth. who died in a tavern nearly two weeks ago. Portraits of some teenagers are seen in empty coffins during a symbolic mass memorial service in East London on July 6, 2022, after 21 people died in unclear circumstances at a borough pub last month, in an incident that shocked South Africa. PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images “We are losing our future generation to the scourge of underage alcohol,” the president said, urging police to determine the exact cause of their deaths and calling on officials to prevent young people from accessing bars. “We need to lay the blame at the feet of those who are making money off the dreams and lives of young South Africans by breaking the law and selling them alcohol,” he said. Two rows of caskets in front of Ramaphosa symbolized the lost lives of young people. “Today we shed bitter tears for the 21 young people who lost their lives in this tragedy,” Ramaphosa said. “These children should not have died. Their deaths could have been prevented if the law had been followed.” Funeral hymns were sung by a large choir as the 19 coffins were carried to a large stage where the service was held in East London’s Scenery Park borough. Two families had private burials, and service organizers said the caskets on display were empty, respecting the wishes of some families. The children are to be buried in various cemeteries later Wednesday and in the coming days, they said. The tent was full, so many mourners sat outside. It is not yet known what caused the death of the children, one aged just 13, whose bodies were found at Enyobeni Tavern. He was under the legal drinking age of 18 in South Africa, officials said. Pathologists study the cause of death from blood samples. A riot was ruled out because the victims’ bodies did not show serious injuries, police said. Sinovuyo Monyane, 19, who was hired by the bar to promote an alcohol brand, said last week she was still “confused” but felt lucky to be alive. He said he was struggling to get out of a door that was locked with people. “We tried to get through the crowd, shouting ‘please let us through’ and others were shouting ‘we’re dying, guys’ and ‘we’re suffocating’ and ‘there are people who can’t breathe’,” he told AFP. . “I was passed out at the time. I was out of breath and there was a strong smell of some type of spray in the air. We thought it was pepper spray,” he said. She later regained consciousness after someone sprayed water on her. “I got up and realized there were dead bodies around. I saw people pouring water, but those people didn’t even move,” he said in a telephone interview. “I could have died.” Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy as he faces several challenges, including widespread power outages in South Africa, widespread allegations of corruption and questions about large sums of cash allegedly found hidden in furniture on his own game farm. “I heard some people say I have no business coming here to Scenery Park. Some people said I have bigger problems to fix,” Ramaphosa told the gathering. “But I ask them, what is more important in this country and on this land than the lives of our children?” A boy reacts during a mass funeral for the victims of an east coast tavern where bodies of youths were found that caused nationwide grief, in the Eastern Cape province, in East London, South Africa, July 6, 2022. SIPHIWE SIBEKO / REUTERS AFP contributed to this report.
