By Justine Gerardy

The shock death of a West Rand teenager after a party with friends has taken a new turn with the arrest of two bouncers, who police have kept in custody for questioning.

Gauteng police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman on Friday said the arrests related to bouncers who had “apparently arrived on the scene” at last Friday’s party in Roodepoort.

Florida High School Grade 11 pupil Lezaan Kriel attended the party and died on the way to hospital due to what her family believe was a cool drink spiked with an unknown substance.

On Friday, hundreds of mourners packed into the NG Kerk in Constantia Kloof for the teenager’s funeral.

Lezaan’s mother Subeth recalled memories of her daughter, and her father Francois sang a song during the service.

Programmes bearing images of Lezaan included a note written by the deceased to her mother that she had forgotten to give to her, which was found two days after her death.

It read: “Thank you for all the advice that you always give me, Mom. I really love you very, very much, more than any person on earth could describe, thank you for the trouble that you always go through the to-ing and fro-ing, carting people around (my friends), and always helping me to persuade Dad that I could go somewhere or do something.”

In his sermon, Reverend Jaco Schoeman urged parents of under-aged children to take responsibility for “clean” parties. “With the drink comes the drugs and all the other rubbish,” he said.

An autopsy was done on Monday, and results are still pending. Police were investigating the death as unnatural, but Opperman would not name any charges brought against the suspects, apart from confirming that “they were arrested in connection with investigations into her death”.

The men, in their 30s, were arrested on Thursday and were still in custody on Friday afternoon. Depending on investigations, a court appearance or a release were possible, Opperman said.

Earlier this week, the teenager’s father described his daughter as “one of those energetic people a real live-wire laughing all the time and very spirited”.

She was “a child who never goes to parties”, but had gone to this one with special friends, Francois Kriel said.

The teen was rushed to Flora Clinic when the ambulance called for her had not arrived, and her pulse had reached “almost zero”.

“The doctor at the clinic said to us that she was already technically dead when she arrived and there was nothing they could do to resuscitate her,” he added.

Initial results had shown no trace of alcohol in her blood, but “signs of other chemicals”, he said. “Whatever it was made her heart fail within half an hour.

“It’s a big loss, but if anything positive comes as a warning or a wake-up call for other children or parents, it’s not for nothing, regardless of the pain that goes with it,” Kriel added.

Top investigator Superintendent Piet Byleveld, who has investigated Johannesburg’s alleged “bouncer mafia”, will assist with the case. He attended the funeral on Friday.

On the theory that the teenager’s drink had been spiked, Schoeman said after the burial at West Park cemetery: “It makes perfect sense. It’s the only way it could have happened.

“I cannot begin to believe that she willingly took some drugs. The only option is that someone slipped it in there unknowingly.”

South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) national director Shamim Garda said the problem of spiked drinks was especially a problem at nightclubs or raves.

When it came to drugs and the youth, Garda said the age of drug users was dropping, substances were widely available and drugs were getting cheaper. Drugs were also laced with other substances and children were often put under pressure from friends to try out drugs.

“Peer pressure is one of the biggest factors that influences them to use drugs. In a group setting it becomes the norm to start experimenting,” Garda added.

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