Times of Eswatini

Tembe family believes AKA responsibl­e for Anele’s death

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THERE have been varying reports about businessma­n Moses Tembe, the father of the late Anele ‘ Nellie’ Tembe, alleging that he was involved in Kiernan ‘ AKA’ Forbes’ murder.

Speculatio­n has been rife with allegation­s that Tembe ordered the hit on AKA, who was Anele’s fiancé.

Earlier in the week, the Tembe family sent their condolence­s to the Forbes family, as the businessma­n praised AKA for his talent. However, his message to the Daily Sun stating that they were ‘ robbed the opportunit­y to vindicate their daughter’, piqued the interest of many.

On Thursday, Moses Tembe sent out a statement saying as a family they were concerned about the persistent claims of their involvemen­t in the rapper’s death.

“I have had to endure a flurry of posts on various social media platforms that accuse me and my family of being involved in the death of Kiernan ‘ AKA’ Forbes.

“The accusation­s are untrue and without substance. I categorica­lly state my family feels the pain of the Forbes family and would never be involved in an abhorrent act of this nature.”

Tembe said whilst people have the right to freedom of speech, these allegation­s have inflicted an emotional toll on them.

“After having to deal with the tragedy of the untimely passing of our daughter, this senseless crime has taken a further emotional toll on us.”

Tembe concluded that people making these ‘ baseless’ claims should refrain from doing so.

Despite Tembe distancing himself and his family from the murder, their legal team, TM Incorporat­e Attorneys, wrote scathing letters to the NPA after they declined to prosecute in what they believe was the murder of Anele, CityPress reported yesterday.

It is believed that Anele fell from the balcony at the Pepper Club hotel in Cape Town in April 2021.

The Tembe family believes that AKA pushed or threw Anele from the balcony and felt the NPA should have conducted a thorough investigat­ion.

In the legal documents seen by the publicatio­n, the Tembes wrote their letter to the NPA two weeks after they had a meeting with the prosecutio­n’s team.

Anele’s family said they were not happy nor did they agree with the NPA’s decision not to prosecute the rapper in June 2022.

They believe that there was enough evidence that indicated otherwise. The Tembe’s legal team pointed out evidence that substantia­ted their claims.

They said there was a fabricated statement by the hotel’s receptioni­st. The lawyers stated that Forbes ( AKA) made the call to the receptioni­st after Anele’s fall, citing video footage which showed the time of Anele’s fall. Saying AKA did not make a call prior to Anele’s death.

“The evidence in the form of the record of the call and the video footage, which are contained in the docket were shockingly ignored. The receptioni­st is easily contradict­ed by that,” the letter read.

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