‘I played no role in AKA’s death’
Moses Tembe has vowed to continue to pursue the truth behind the ‘devastating loss’ of his daughter, Anele
KWAZULU-NATAL businessman Moses Tembe has reaffirmed his commitment to finding the truth behind the events that led to his daughter Anele’s death.
Tembe made his stance known last week, as social media users named him as a suspect in the assassination of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes – a claim he has vehemently denied.
AKA and his long-time friend, entrepreneur Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were shot dead on February 10 outside Wish restaurant on Florida Road, Durban. AKA was meant to perform later that night at YuGo, a nightclub on Mathews Meyiwa Road.
The incident came almost two years after Anele, who was engaged to be married to AKA, died after falling from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Loop Street, Cape Town.
She had been with AKA on that night. A video of Anele crying “you don’t know what he’s doing to me”, has resurfaced after AKA’s death, with speculation by social media users that the two had been fighting.
Tembe, in a statement last week, said that since the “devastating loss” of his daughter, he had sought the truth behind her death.
“I have done so by engaging the legal authorities and following due process in the knowledge that the legal process would vindicate my beloved daughter and prove to the world what I and the rest of my family have always known, that Anele was not suicidal and had never harboured thoughts of suicide,” he said.
Tembe said AKA’s murder was therefore a massive loss for two reasons.
“Firstly, I know all too well the unbearable and unending pain of losing a child, and it is something that no parent should ever have to experience. I reached out to the Forbes family to extend my condolences on their loss as soon as I heard about Kiernan’s murder.
“They were gracious in their receipt of my condolences, as they have been throughout the last 22 months.
“Secondly, Kiernan’s murder has robbed me and my family of the opportunity to get to the bottom of what happened at the Pepperclub Hotel on the fateful night that Anele died – something that I and my family have been fighting for during the last 22 months.
“For these two reasons, it is therefore deeply disheartening to note the scurrilous, absolutely unfounded and baseless rumours doing the rounds regarding my ‘role’ in Kiernan’s death,” he said.
Tembe said he never judged Kiernan, and with his family had demonstrated their love for him until his last day.
“My relationship with his family, too, has always been amicable, so the unfounded and baseless speculation that I had a hand in Kiernan’s death is deeply hurtful to not only me and my family, but also the Forbes’s family during this very difficult and painful time.
“My hope, as it has been since April 2021, is that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice and that the truth becomes known so the Forbes’s family can find consolation and closure, and get justice,” he said.
Tembe said his family intended to continue to search for the truth about the circumstances that led to Anele’s death. He said they would continue to work with the authorities until they found justice.
Tembe said it was with grave concern that he and his family have had to endure a flurry of posts on various social media platforms that accuse him and members of his family of being involved in the death of AKA.
“These accusations are untrue and without substance. I categorically state that my family feel the pain of the Forbes family and would never be involved in an abhorrent act of this nature,” he said.
Tembe pleaded with social media influencers to stop implicating him and his family in the murder of the rapper.
Earlier last week, the National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape confirmed that it had decided not to institute any prosecution in the matter of Anele’s death, a decision Tembe is challenging.
The decision was taken last year and was communicated to the Tembe family who were given the green light to make further representations to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).
At the time of AKA’s death, spokesperson for the NPA in the Western Cape Eric Ntabazalila, said they had yet to make the representations to the NDPP Shamilla Batohi.
He said the NPA had referred Anele’s death as a matter for an inquest.
“Kiernan’s murder has robbed me and my family of the opportunity to get to the bottom of what happened
MOSES TEMBE Anele Tembe’s father
POLICE in KwaZulu-Natal believe that cellphone records could play a key role in linking the suspects to the murder of award-winning rapper AKA and his former manager Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.
AKA and Tibz were both shot outside Wish Restaurant on Florida Road in Durban on February 10.
On Friday, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi confirmed that the investigating team had collected evidence in the form of phone records and interviewed several people in connection with the killings of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and Motsoane.
Mkhwanazi said police had also received ballistic reports and that members of the investigating team, led by top cop Brigadier Vela Cele, were reviewing and analysing all the videos.
At the 7th SAPS National Excellence Awards, Brigadier Cele was honoured for the role he played in tracking down Luyanda Botha in just 10 days following the murder of 19-year-old UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana.
Botha was jailed for raping and murdering Mrwetyana.
“We are still putting our evidence together so that we have a solid case,” Mkhwanazi said following the release of the Quarter 3 Crime Statistics by Minister Bheki Cele on Friday.
Mkhwanazi said even though the police were yet to make an arrest, they were in the process of doing so after downloading phone records and following up on potential leads.
AKA was laid to rest at the Heroes Acre in West Park Cemetery at a private ceremony, while his long-time friend and business associate was given a separate dignified burial in Ekurhuleni on Saturday.
On Friday, a memorial service for AKA that was open to the public was held at the Sandton Convention Centre, in celebration of the artist and his contribution to the South African music industry.
Many took to the stage, including DJ Tira, DJ Oskido, Sizwe Dhlomo and the rapper’s mother, Lynn Forbes, to share their memories of him.
Mkhwanazi added that a team of investigators had spoken to a number of people in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in connection with the killings.
“From many people we have opened statements, and we have collected cellphones. The viewing of the videos is still continuing. We are still putting evidence together to be able to have a solid case going forward.
“The identification of those who were seen on videos that you might have seen on social media, we have an idea as to who those people might be,” Mkhwanazi said. “This provincial commissioner, we were together on the phone all the time and talking about the team he has put up and all that led by Brigadier Cele, one of the top investigators,” Minister Cele said.
“The next morning, I was phoned by the family requesting a few things to be done. I spoke at length with the father of AKA.”