Nelli Tembe’s body arrives in Durban

THE body of 22-year-old Anele “Nelli” Tembe arrived in her hometown, Durban, yesterday ahead of a memorial service in her honour today.

Nelli died on Sunday after apparently falling from the 10th floor of the five-star Pepperclub Hotel in central Cape Town.

A source confirmed to TshisaLIVE that Nelli’s body left Cape Town and arrived at King Shaka International Airport yesterday morning, accompanied by her fiancé, rapper AKA.

The star will be among mourners who will celebrate the life of Nelli at the memorial service today, which will be streamed live for people to pay their respects.

A funeral service is planned for later in the week, but details around both services have yet to be announced by the family.

AKA and Nelli got engaged in February, with the rapper apparently meeting Nelli’s family a few weeks ago to start lobola negotiations.

AKA’s publicist Phumza Nohashe told TshisaLIVE AKA was “doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances”.

“He lost the love of his life, someone he had taken advanced steps, culturally, to spend the rest of his life with,” she said.

Phumza said the star was “still trying to make sense of it all” and has his mother Lynne and father Tony by his side.

“The love and support of Anele’s family and a grief counsellor have also been some relief to him,” she said.

Exact details around Nelli’s death are unknown at this stage, but witnesses at the hotel described hearing a scream on Sunday morning, followed by a “loud doef” sound. They said they had also heard a man shouting.

Police have confirmed the incident is under investigation.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said paramedics arrived on the scene and found a 22-year-old female who had allegedly jumped from the 10th floor.