Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News
Six more people have reportedly died of drinking homemade beer during the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa and several survivors have been left with impaired eyesight.
Days before the lockdown booze ban was lifted in South African, a group of Zimbabwean and Malawian nationals were reportedly drinking homemade beer in the township of Masiphumelele in Cape Town.
According to local media, six people died of suspected methanol poisoning and four others were hospitalised.
CEN 
CEN 
CEN/@melvin.afrikaner.1 
CEN/@tony.hilliar.7 
CEN/@tony.hilliar.7
Of the survivors, two have since been discharged from hospital while the other two are still receiving treatment.
The surviving members may have been left with severe damage to their eyesight, according to reports.
Sania Rungana, 33, the unemployed widow of victim Tapera Edward Kuseni, told local media: “I am eight months pregnant with two other children, and my husband, our provider, is gone. I honestly do not know what we are going to do now.
“My husband started drinking on Saturday. He came home and slept and drank again in the evening on Sunday. The person selling the alcohol was our neighbour.
“We didn’t think anything of the alcohol and the bottles had no writing on them.”
By Monday morning, her husband could not speak and he “seemed confused”.
She added: “He was supposed to go to work that day. At first I thought he was just hungover, but when I saw that he was getting worse I called the landlord.
“By that time he was not speaking, he couldn’t see, and didn’t know what was happening.”
The victim’s brother Richard Chinembiri said: “I was drinking with my brother on Saturday and Sunday. And on Monday morning I was supposed to wake up early and go to the market, but I had a severe headache and I thought I was still hungover.
“I went with them to the hospital and we had him [Kuseni] admitted and I came back home, but things started getting worse.
“The headache was worse and I couldn’t walk properly. I was admitted into hospital the same night my brother died.”
Even though he was discharged days later, Chinembiri admits he still feels weak.
He said: “My eyesight is not good. I can only see things that are close by and I have constant joint pains and headaches. I could have died.”
David Eliya from Malawi said that he also drank the homemade beer over the weekend and woke up feeling terrible on Monday morning.
When he heard that two of his friends had been hospitalised, he also went to False Bay Hospital for checks.
He said: “The doctor told me that I was lucky.”
Eliya added: “I left my friend in Groote Schuur Hospital. His eyes are not working, he can’t see. I am sad because that could have also been me.”
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said: “Death inquest case dockets have been registered and the exact cause of their death is yet to be determined.”
In early May, South African couple Tony Hilliar and Alida Fouche reportedly died from drinking homemade beer during the lockdown.
Two weeks later, Melvin Afrikaner and his wife Winnie died in intensive care after drinking several bottles of homemade booze, according to local media.
Days later, three people reportedly died in the village of KwaNonibe in Eastern Cape after drinking home-brewed beer where methylated spirits had been added. Nine others were left in a serious condition in hospital.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
