AKA, ‘Nellie’ were to begin premarital counselling
AS ANELE “Nellie” Tembe’s body lay in a white casket and music filled the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban during her funeral on Friday, the mystery of her death still lingered. However, her family was clear that she was not suicidal and did not have a mental illness.
They blamed drugs and alcohol abuse for her death.
Tembe, 22, who recently got engaged to rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, 33, fell to her death from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town, the weekend the couple were to begin pre-marital counselling.
Tembe’s dad, Moses, a Durban businessman described her as an assertive, independent young woman who dreamt of opening the first Michelin Star-graded restaurant in the country.
Tembe said he was happy when he was introduced to AKA but he had one condition for the couple – to go for proper premarital counselling. “They were due for premarital counselling on the weekend of the misfortune. I was determined to assist both of them in conquering their challenges.”
Dispelling the notion that his daughter had committed suicide, he said she loved herself and had much to live for. “I cannot allow an unfortunate narrative to go unchallenged, a narrative that irks me no end as a father, and which is maliciously pervaded in some circles, that Anele was chronically suicidal or had suicidal tendencies,” he said.
“As Anele’s father, I state categorically that she was neither suicidal nor did she commit suicide. ”
Captain Frederick van Wyk, of the Western Cape SAPS, said there were no new developments in the case at this stage. “The case is still under investigation.”
Effi Ella, general manager at the Pepperclub Hotel did not respond to queries by the time of publication.