Another pens-down party claimed the life of a teenage boy in Mzamomhle F-Section in East London on Sunday morning.
Thanduxolo Mcotheli, 17, a grade 11 Mzamowethu High School pupil, was found by his neighbours and parents burnt to death in his shack.
His mother, Nokuthula Mcotheli, said: “I curse the pens-down parties because they are killing our children.
“My son was not a drinker, but yesterday late in the evening he went out with a group of his friends to a nearby tavern for a pens-down party.
“At about 7am I was woken by neighbours, who said they heard him asking for help from inside the burning shack.
“But they never heard him again and he died in the fire.”
She said she did not know what had caused the fire, but blamed the underage drinking.
“The tavern was full of underage children and my son was among them.
“He felt peer pressure and decided to go out and drink.
“I don’t know what caused the fire, but he was using a paraffin lamp in his shack. It is sad to lose my child because of the pens-down parties.”
Crossly Cakata, a former Gonubie ward councillor, expressed his disappointment about the way the pupil had died.
“These parties are a national crisis and our children don’t want to learn from what happened at Enyobeni tavern last year.
Teen dies after pupils' booze party
Image: 123RF/Paul Fleet
Another pens-down party claimed the life of a teenage boy in Mzamomhle F-Section in East London on Sunday morning.
Thanduxolo Mcotheli, 17, a grade 11 Mzamowethu High School pupil, was found by his neighbours and parents burnt to death in his shack.
His mother, Nokuthula Mcotheli, said: “I curse the pens-down parties because they are killing our children.
“My son was not a drinker, but yesterday late in the evening he went out with a group of his friends to a nearby tavern for a pens-down party.
“At about 7am I was woken by neighbours, who said they heard him asking for help from inside the burning shack.
“But they never heard him again and he died in the fire.”
She said she did not know what had caused the fire, but blamed the underage drinking.
“The tavern was full of underage children and my son was among them.
“He felt peer pressure and decided to go out and drink.
“I don’t know what caused the fire, but he was using a paraffin lamp in his shack. It is sad to lose my child because of the pens-down parties.”
Crossly Cakata, a former Gonubie ward councillor, expressed his disappointment about the way the pupil had died.
“These parties are a national crisis and our children don’t want to learn from what happened at Enyobeni tavern last year.
No to ‘pens down’ parties — education department warns pupils about attending events after exams
“This is a disgrace. How can a pupil die while being under the influence of alcohol?
“What I saw here is very sad,” he said.
Police spokesperson Capt Hazel Mqala said: “It is alleged that at about 7am on Sunday the community reported a shack on fire at the Mzamomhle informal settlement in Gonubie.
“There was also a person screaming for help inside the shack.
“The 17-year-old burnt to death while the people were trying to extinguish the fire. No foul play is suspected.
“The cause of the fire is not known at present.” – DispatchLIVE
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