This week the country has been processing the passing of rapper and Hip-Hop legend Kiernan “AKA” Forbes. The rapper was gunned down during the late hours of Friday, 10 February 2022 on Florida Road, Morningside, Durban. This was as he and the rest of his team were walking out of the Wish restaurant.
Initially, when the news hit, the circumstances of the murder were puzzling. This is as Durban has been a territory that was demarcated as a no-go area for the rapper. Primarily due to the circumstances surrounding the untimely and tragic passing of his 22-year-old fiance Anele “Nellie” Tembe back in April 2021.
Tembe is believed to have taken her own life after throwing herself from a hotel balcony while she and AKA were in Cape Town. But with footage of Tembe and AKA’s abusive and toxic relationship being leaked after her death. Coupled with the fact that AKA and Nellie were heard arguing moments before her suicide, it was believed that there might be more to the story.
However, recently, it has been confirmed that AKA or any foul play in Nellie’s passing has been ruled out.
For the past 8 months we have been seeking this exact confirmation and the NPA gave us the run around. It is tragic that it comes after Kiernan’s passing to confirm what we’ve always known and what we have always said.
Unfortunately, this vindication came only after AKA and friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were assassinated as confirmed recently by the SAPS.
Confirmed: AKA was assassinated
In the days since confirmation that AKA and Tibz are no more, there has been a lot that has happened. The biggest of which was the release of the CCTV footage of the moments before the two personalities were gunned. The footage in question seemed to confirm that AKA’s passing was intentional and not a matter of a robbery or hijacking gone wrong.
As such, it came as no surprise when Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in a recent interview confirmed that the rapper was in fact assassinated. Moreover, Mkhwanazi described the sequence of events more vividly in attempting to make it clear why the SAPS have settled on this conclusion by sharing that:
“He did not shoot the friend that was with him, but he shot AKA twice, and he ran away. The other criminal engaged and fired a couple of shots, and one of his bullets managed to strike Motsoane, and he died.”
Nellie Tembe's father, Moses Tembe, told Daily Sun that he would like to visit AKA's family rubbished rumors circulating on social media that they may be involved in the murder of the superstar.
"We've never judged Kiernan. We demonstrated our love for him to his very last day. We are saddened by this sad eventuality as it robs of us an opportunity we have been waiting for so patiently to vindicate our daughter in court or in an inquest.
I would like to visit their family and convey my condolence in person. As a parent, I feel deep pain for Kiernan's parents (Tony and Lynn Forbes,) his daughter Kairo and the family at large."
During Anele's funeral in 2021, Moses Tembe said that Anele would not have considered suicide until she turned 21.
