Eastern Cape Liquor Board (ECLB) officials told the inquest into the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy that despite the Buffalo City Municipality rejecting the tavern’s building plan, the board granted their application for a liquor licence.

Vuyokazi Ndevu was granted the liquor trading licence on 22 August 2012 for on- and off-site consumption. The ECLB’s head of licencing, Pumlani Tyali testified in the inquest last week in the Mdantsane Regional Court that the liquor act was silent on zoning. As one outcome of the Enyobeni tragedy, the ECLB signed an amendment containing new regulations with the local municipality to address this shortcoming.

“According to the municipality, the establishment is known as residential; our act is silent about zoning and there is no clause that makes it a prerequisite that they must submit proof of an approved [building] plan from the municipality,” Tyali said. A municipal official who had inspected the structure had communicated his assessment to the board during the application process.

Meanwhile the senior inspector at the ECLB, Zuko Lizani, who is tasked with ensuring compliance with Eastern Cape liquor regulations and dealt directly with the Enyobeni Tavern application process and operations, confirmed that there was no approved plan accompanying the application but instead a sketch of an RDP house. “A plan would have shown the dimensions of each room and windows … There was a sketch and there was no proof that the sketch was approved by the municipality.

“I went to the place and took pictures, and the liquor licence board satisfied itself with the content of the establishment and granted the licence,” Lizani said. He confirmed that the current structure of the tavern is entirely different from the initial structure.

Elitsha reported that the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality was recently granted an order by the East London High Court to demolish the Enyobeni Tavern. In the application the metro cited the structure’s condition and its business licence as not matching the area it was zoned in.

Tyali told the court the liquor act does not require inspection before granting a renewal of the licence; it only provides that the holder pays the renewal fee before 31 December annually. Had the liquor board been informed by the inspector of transgressions of the regulations by the tavern owner, they would have not granted the licence renewal.

Lizani said the board does not conduct regular Inspections but responds to complaints. “We inspect once, during the application process and then rely on complaints lodged by ward committees and police. Each financial year we have a list of problematic taverns to inspect as mandated by the board and the office of the MEC,” he said.

We previously reported that the board has a severe staff shortage with 65% of its enforcement inspector posts vacant and just 21 inspectors instead of 60. At the time of the tragedy in June 2022, the board had 16 inspectors to monitor compliance in 7,500 taverns and bottle stores.

For the period 2022-2023, the ECLB admitted that about 358 establishments were found to be operating without valid liquor licences. The evidence leader Advocate Luvuyo Vena put it to Tyali that the board failed to enforce the law despite numerous complaints. “When you received a complaint from a neighbour in December 2021, you tasked Sergeant Kondile to go and inspect and when you received feedback about non-compliance you did nothing. When you received affidavits containing all complaints, what steps did you take?” Vena asked.

Despite the duties of the inspectors as stipulated by the ELCB to monitor compliance and enforce liquor licence conditions, Lizani argued that the inspectors are not peace officers. “Public nuisance is the responsibility of the municipality and public drinking is the responsibility of law enforcement; inspectors are not peace officers. Sgt Kondile was responsible for taking actions as she got first-hand information,” he said.

Despite a neighbour testifying earlier that their affidavits contained complaints about minors drinking at the tavern, Lizani disputed that the board was at all aware. “So, liquor board creates regulations but when they are not complied with you point to other people. I put it to you that the tragedy caught you fast asleep,” urged Vena.

“How can you issue a licence year-in and -out without knowing that the structure complies with the licence you issued five years ago? I am profoundly disappointed with the attitude of the board. You had powers to enforce the law but failed – you contributed to the tragedy,” Vena added.

The inquest will resume on 31 March 2025.