'AKA WASN'T A MURDERER'

BOTH the Forbes and Tembe families are forced to relive old wounds after former Police Minister Bheki Cele’s remarks about Anele Tembe’s death stirred up fresh pain and controversy.

Speaking before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee last week, Cele claimed that police had treated Anele’s 2021 fall from a Cape Town hotel balcony as a murder investigation but said the matter never reached court because prosecutors declined to take it further.

His comments implied that the late rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes may have been involved in her death; a claim Tony Forbes says is not only false but cruelly unfair.

The 22-year-old Tembe fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town while she and AKA were reportedly arguing.

At the time, police treated her death as a possible suicide, though social media speculation and unverified claims continued to swirl, speculation that has now resurfaced after Cele’s latest claims.

In an interview with eNCA, Tony was direct in his response, describing Cele’s comments as “hurtful and unfair”. 

He said: “So, for me, it’s just reopened the wounds, and Kiernan was just spoken of as a murderer again. It’s very unfair. It’s hurtful. He’s not here to defend himself, and I wish that the NPA could just set the record straight.” 

He also confirmed that the inquest into Tembe’s death is still set to go ahead. He explained that the family intends to present evidence during the process to finally clear Kiernan’s name once and for all.

He said: “The right place for this to clear out is in the inquest… Kiernan passed away before it happened, but it’s not too late. We are still supposed to go there and take the facts so that there is a balanced discussion and not merely one-sided statements being made.”

Firm in his stance, Tony painted a different picture of his son, not as a violent man, but as someone deeply in love with Tembe and committed to their future together.

He said firmly: “There’s no doubt that Kiernan was not a murderer. Two weeks before Anele died, Kiernan went and asked for her hand in marriage. Kiernan was not an aggressive person. He would never have done that. So, absolutely, he did not murder her.”