WATCH | Where did AKA's killers go after his murder? We map the possible paths

Not much information is known about where the killers went after they opened fire on Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane on Friday February 10. We look at the maps and assess the most likely path. We also take you through AKA's final day leading up to his murder.

Friday morning | February 10, 2023

AKA flew from OR Tambo in Johannesburg to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport early on Friday morning. He was in Durban to perform at Yugo nightclub that evening.

He checked in to an Umhlanga hotel and recorded himself working out in the hotel gym.

Friday afternoon

The next time we catch up with the late rapper is when he is with his friends on his way to Wish on Florida on Florida Road, where he gets his hair cut.

Then it’s dinner and some celebratory shots where AKA is seen in high spirits. He would soon leave the restaurant to make the short journey down the road to Yugo where he was set to perform.

He would never get there. As the group leaves Wish, two shooters approach AKA and shoot and kill him and Tibz.

The gunmen run in a southwesterly direction, straight past a SAPS kiosk setup to deter crime in Florida road.

Looking at a map, there are two routes they could have taken after the shooting.

1. There is a foot path that leads to a side street which runs along parallel to Florida road — they could have parked here and used this as an escape route.
2. Or they could have gone down Gordons Road, which is perpendicular to Florida road and turned either left or right at a T-junction with Montpelier Road.

Police have secured CCTV footage from at least two businesses on Montpelier Road, suggesting the shooters' getaway car could have taken this route to flee. 

Durban residents have suggested the gunmen would not have gone towards the CBD or beachfront as there would be a high likelihood of being caught on cameras and seen by witnesses.

Police progress

Police minister Bheki Cele, speaking on Newzroom Afrika last week, said he was confident  progress in finding the killers is being made. However, even if police arrest the gunmen, this doesn’t mean we will ever learn who paid them to do it, if this was an organised hit.

In a similar case in Cape Town in 2018, well-known lawyer Pete Mihalik was brazenly killed in broad daylight by two KwaZulu-Natal hitmen while dropping off his children at a private school in Greenpoint.

The killers were arrested by a stroke of luck during a roadblock straight after the killing. However, five years later we are not any closer to learning who organised the hit on Mihalik.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.