Moses Tembe says 'security reasons' prevent him from revealing if he will attend AKA's funeral

Moses Tembe says he cannot reveal whether he will attend the memorial service or private funeral of slain hip-hop star Kiernan “AKA” Forbes because of “security reasons”.

A memorial service to mark the life of AKA, who was killed outside a Durban restaurant a week ago, will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday night. He will be buried at a private funeral on Saturday.

Tembe's daughter Anele, who was AKA’s girlfriend at the time, died after falling from the 10th floor of the Pepper Club Hotel in Loop Street, Cape Town, in April 2021.

The business tycoon rejected suggestions she had been suicidal.

Earlier this week, Tembe, who said his family was gravely concerned at the continuous social media posts implicating him in AKA's murder, told TimesLIVE on Friday: “For security reasons we’re not communicating our movements.”

This was in response to a question about whether he will be part of AKA’s final farewell.

He said the posts linking him to AKA's death were “cruel and libellous”. He said he had not been approached by the police.

On Thursday Tembe said he was awaiting an invitation to the funeral.

“Great pity the media continues to place my daughter’s departure at the centre of Kiernan’s death,” he said.

This follows a statement he released expressing concern about social media users pointing fingers at him.

“It is with grave concern that my family and I have had to endure a flurry of posts on various social media platforms that accuse me, and members of my family, of being involved in the death of Kiernan Forbes. These accusations are untrue and without substance.”

“I categorically state that my family feel the pain of the Forbes family and would never be involved in an abhorrent act of this nature.

“While I value the principle of freedom of speech, these cruel and libellous utterances inflict personal and emotional harm on us. After having to deal with the tragedy of the untimely passing of our daughter, this senseless crime has taken a further emotional toll on us. I respectfully request the individuals making these baseless statements to refrain from doing so.”

Tembe would not be drawn on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declining to prosecute but rather holding an inquest into his daughter’s death.

The NPA's decision was that there should be an inquest into Tembe's death after expert opinions pointed to no grounds for a prosecution.

City Press reported being in possession of a letter written to the NPA on behalf of the Tembe family by their lawyers in which they said they believed AKA either pushed or threw Anele from the balcony of their hotel room that night.

The report also alleged that the Tembes believed he did not attend to Anele, who was alive for 20 minutes after she hit the ground.

According to the report, 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.

The Tembes alleged in the letter the NPA ignored crucial evidence from witnesses, including one who allegedly heard a fight and heard a woman's voice asking someone to leave her alone. 

The Tembe family's request for access to the docket was denied, and the family thereafter made a Promotion of Access to Information (Paia) application. 

Tembe referred TimesLIVE to family spokesperson Manqoba Zungu, who he said “is handling this matter”.

Zungu was not immediately available for comment.

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