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Anele Nellie Tembe’s family believes rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes pushed or threw her from the balcony of their hotel room at the Pepper Club hotel in Cape Town two years ago.
The Tembes also believe that AKA did not attend to Anele, who was still alive 20 minutes after she landed on the ground, but instead cleaned the bloody hotel room before going on to party with his friends after she died.
These explosive details are contained in a scathing letter written on behalf of the family by their lawyers, TM Incorporated Attorneys, to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape after the NPA declined to prosecute the rapper following an investigation into Anele’s death in June last year.
The letter was written two weeks after the Tembe family was informed in a meeting with the NPA that they 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 prosecuting him.
The family argued that the decision by the NPA was based on a fabricated statement made by a receptionist at the hotel. They also state that the decision was based on a fabricated statement by the rapper.
The lawyers wrote that the NPA disregarded crucial evidence which contradicted the one which was at the disposal of the investigators.
The letter reads:
The call that Forbes made to the reception was made after Anele 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 of the hotel. 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 ignored a statement by a crucial witness, Rob Stefanutto, who stated that he heard an argument from the rapper’s room between a male and a female.
The family said 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”.
The lawyers state that the officials investigating the case were not 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 there was blood found in the hotel room, which indicated that there was an assault on Anele prior to her killing.
“The scratch marks on Forbes body, specifically at the back, which scratch marks were defensive marks, in an upward direction, indicating 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.
The family also indicated that the investigators ignored evidence relating to how Anele landed on the ground.
The family said:
The deceased landed at a distance that is consistent with a person that was pushed. She landed approximately five and a half meters away from the building, whereas if she had jumped on her own, she would have landed approximately two meters away from the building.
They also indicated that there were no fingerprints on the balustrade of the balcony, demonstrating her action of climbing over.
“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 Anele’s passing was unbecoming.
“He did not attend to his injured fiancé, 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 fiancé.”
This week, NPA confirmed that they declined to prosecute AKA on the matter and said the case was still pending as the inquest into her passing was still being investigated.
AKA 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.