Anele Tembe’s funeral set to be held today
THE family of the late Anele “Nellie” Tembe has, ahead of her funeral today, denied claims that have been made about her death in the media.
The Tembe family spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday that “Nellie did not jump off the building but fell off the building”.
The spokesperson told The Star’s sister paper, the Daily News, that the Tembe family was still in the dark about the circumstances that led to Tembe’s death. “We don't know much about what happened as a family and we are looking to get more insight once the (police) investigation is complete.”
Tembe was reported dead on Sunday morning after falling from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town. She had recently become engaged to rapper Kiernan Forbes, known as AKA. The couple announced their engagement on Instagram in March, and were preparing to walk down the aisle after AKA had paid lobola to the Tembe family in March.
Tembe, the daughter of prominent businessman Moses Tembe and the late Lulu Tembe, was born in Durban on October 22, 1998.
She attended Glenwood Preparatory School and Durban Girls’ College. Her family said she was was a sports star who excelled in ice skating and soccer – and ballet. She was the captain of the first soccer team while in high school.
She was also an artist and did well in modelling and acting at school. “She did so well that she landed herself a role in a kids’ show on SABC,” her family said in an obituary. The family said due to her having “excellent culinary skills” they sent her to the internationally acclaimed Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
She went on to specialise in patisserie at The Test Kitchen in Cape Town.
“Nellie will be greatly remembered by her family and friends for being deeply caring, loving, strong-willed and courageous. She explored the best of life’s offerings through travel, sports adventures and even experiencing different cultures,” the family said.
Nondumiso Tembe, an actress and sister of Tembe, shared her grief on Instagram when she posted a picture of Tembe kissing her cheek, captioned: “My baby, Ngiphelelwe amazwi – Words fail me right now. We will hold you in our hearts forever. Lala kahle, mbali yethu. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent kind words of comfort for our family, ngiyathokoza kakhulu.”