‘AKA killed Anele,’ says Tembe family lawyer

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The family of Anele “Nellie” Tembe, rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’ fiancée, believe that the rapper pushed or threw her from the balcony of their hotel room at the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town two years ago.

The Tembes also believe that Forbes did not attend to Tembe, who was alive for 20 minutes after she hit the ground, but instead cleaned the hotel room of blood and then went on to party with his friends.

These explosive details are contained in a scathing letter that was written on behalf of the family by their lawyers, TM Incorporated Attorneys, to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape after it declined to prosecute the rapper following an investigation in June last year into Tembe’s death.

The letter was written two weeks after the Tembe family was informed in a meeting with the NPA that it would not be prosecuting Forbes. In the letter, the lawyers tell the prosecuting authority that the Tembes did not agree with the NPA’s decision not to prosecute the rapper, stating that there was ample evidence to go ahead with the case.

Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and Anele ‘Nellie’ Tembe. Photo: Instagram

The family argued that the decision by the NPA was based on fabricated statements made by a receptionist at the hotel and by the rapper.

The lawyers wrote that the NPA had disregarded crucial evidence that contradicted the evidence that was at the disposal of the investigators.

The letter reads:

The call that Forbes made to the reception desk was made after Tembe had already landed on the ground. The video footage that captured her fall records a time that is prior to the call that Forbes made to the reception desk. The evidence in the form of the record of the call and the video footage, which are contained in the docket, were shockingly ignored. The receptionist is easily contradicted by that.

The family also stated that the investigators had ignored a statement by a crucial witness, Rob Stefanutto, who had stated that he had heard an argument in the rapper’s room between a man and a woman. The family said that, during the argument, “the lady, who later turned out to be Anele Tembe, was heard desperately asking the attacker, being male, to leave her alone. Moments thereafter, Stefanutto heard Anele Tembe drop, he then administered CPR on her.”

A forensic team works outside the Pepperclub Hotel where Anele Tembe died. Photo: Misheck Makora

The lawyers state that the officials investigating the case had not been aware of the statement by Stefanutto and reacted with shock when the family raised this in the meeting with the NPA on June 1 last year.

The family also said that blood had been found in the hotel room, which indicated that there had been an assault on Tembe prior to her death.

“The scratch marks on Forbes’ body, specifically at the back, which scratch marks were defensive marks, in an upward direction, indicate that Forbes was carrying Anele on his shoulders while she attempted to defend herself. The scratch marks are indicative that Forbes threw her over the balcony,” the letter reads.

Extract from the letter by the Tembe family’s lawyers, TM Incorporated Attorneys, to the NPA.

The family also indicated that the investigators had ignored evidence relating to how Anele had landed on the ground.

The deceased landed at a distance that is consistent with a person who was pushed. She landed approximately five and a half metres away from the building, whereas, if she had jumped on her own, she would have landed approximately two metres away from the building.

They also indicated that there had been no fingerprints on the balustrade of the balcony, which would have shown that she had climbed over the railing herself.

“The absence of such fingerprints demonstrates the fact that she was pushed or thrown over.”

The family also stated that the rapper’s conduct after Tembe’s death had been unbecoming.

“He did not attend to his injured fiancée, who remained alive for approximately 20 minutes. He did not go to perform CPR on her. Instead, Stefanutto, a complete stranger, cared enough to administer CPR and call emergency services in an attempt to save Anele Tembe’s life … Forbes cleaned up the hotel room. There was blood on the towels … Forbes partied and drank at the hotel with his entourage following the passing of his fiancée.”

This week, the NPA confirmed that it had declined to prosecute Forbes and said the case was pending because the inquest into her death was still under way.

Forbes was gunned down outside a popular restaurant in Durban last Friday evening, a fatal shooting that also resulted in the death of his lifelong friend, Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.

A memorial service will be held for the rapper at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday. His funeral will be held privately on Saturday.