Enere, 16, a pupil at Trinity Catholic College, died after being stabbed at the Dunedin bus hub on May 23.
About a week later, the Dunedin City Council scheduled a public vigil for Enere to be held in the Octagon.
On the morning of the vigil, the council updated its social media posts to clarify that Enere’s whanau would "not be present or speaking at the vigil" as previously stated and apologised for any misunderstanding.
But later in the afternoon, hours before the vigil was scheduled to begin, the council cancelled the vigil entirely.
The council initially declined to answer detailed questions about the vigil.
But the reasons why it was cancelled at the last minute are made clear in emails released to the Otago Daily Times under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act
The emails show Cr Marie Laufiso was tasked with liaising with Enere’s whanau, but on the day of the event she acknowledged she had "stuffed up" by not meeting Enere’s parents directly.
In a statement given to the ODT yesterday, Cr Laufiso acknowledged her "personal stuff-up" and apologised to Enere’s parents, their children, elders and wider family.
She had learned from parents and elders that where matters of importance and significance were concerned, the only way to engage was kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face).
Instead of visiting Enere’s parents and their kopu tangata (family) in person, as she was raised to do, Cr Laufiso said she rang a family representative to seek the family’s blessing for the vigil.
"As I knew that Enere’s parents had enough to deal with, I did not contact them directly and this led to a miscommunication about their support for a vigil.
"I was made aware on the morning of the day of the planned vigil that hurt and offence had been caused."
Cr Laufiso said she and her own family had visited Enere’s family to pay tribute to them at their home, where she apologised directly and cancelled the public vigil.
This explained the "very short period of time" between the cancellation announcement and the vigil’s scheduled beginning time, she said.
The chain of emails show the vigil was first mentioned by Cr Sophie Barker after she and Cr Steve Walker were tagged in posts on social media seeking council support for a public vigil.
It was a "very sensitive matter" and people were keen to show their feelings and support, "but absolutely the whanau’s wishes come first", Cr Barker said in an email to Cr Laufiso.
Cr Laufiso replied that the matter was "indeed very sensitive" and she personally saw the value in such an event.
"I will ensure that the idea of a vigil for the public is put to the whanau as soon as possible", she said.
Council chief executive Sandy Graham volunteered to organise booking the Octagon and the costs for a traffic plan. Management of a worksite in the Octagon was identified, following a truck crash in April, and food trucks and coffee carts were also floated as catering options.
Gravity Events was quoted for audio and power.
A council spokesman said the costs of organising the vigil were about $2250, which included arranging power and audio services and two food trucks.
