AKA shooting footage puts murder accused to sleep

An expert video and CCTV analyst continued to show footage in the state’s case against seven men accused of killing rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes on Monday, showing a video clip of the moment AKA was shot.

KwaZulu-Natal Organised Crime Unit Sgt Rajen Sanders, who has collected 17 video clips to track the movements of the accused, last week linked three men to being the spotter, tail and supplier of guns that killed AKA and celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane in the Durban high court.

On Friday, he named accused five Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, 29, as one of the spotters in the gang who plotted the musician’s death.

Ndimande — who was constantly on his phone — sat across from AKA and his friends as they enjoyed their meal minutes before they walked outside to their deadly ambush.

AKA and Tibz were gunned down as they left the now defunct Wish restaurant on Florida Road in Durban on February 10 2023.

Ndimande, as well as Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, 30, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, 35, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, 23, Mziwelithini Gwabeni, 36, Malusi Dave Ndimande, 30, and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms when the trial began on October 5.

On Monday he played footage of the moment AKA was shot, in slow motion.

He was questioned at length by prosecutor Adv Lawrence Gcaba, who went through the footage frame by frame about the moment AKA fell to the ground after the sparks from the gunshot were seen.

He froze the video on a frame where a pool of blood seeped out from under AKA as he lay on the ground.

Gcaba probed Saunders about the two shooters, both of whom bear a resemblance to two accused and the direction in which they ran.

During questioning after the lunch break, the accused were indifferent to the graphic footage on screen, and it came to the court’s attention that Malusi Ndimande fell asleep with his head resting on the edge of the dock. He stirred when the judge asked his legal representative a question.

Sanders said the two shooters ran across the road, past two benches in the park opposite the restaurant and into Gordon Road. There he showed them getting into a getaway car, a white Mercedes-Benz.

The state has called at least 17 witnesses, including crew members who travelled with AKA from the airport when he landed in Durban.

These witnesses, including his DJ, Tshediso Mokoko, better known as Don Design, musician and old friend Lusaso Ngcobo, manager Tshiamo Letshwene and photographer Thotloetso Kutlwano Mogotsi, recounted AKA and Tibz’s final hours before the panic, fear and blood following the shooting.

Forensic witnesses including fingerprint expert Lt-Col Nathaniel Zachariah linked Myeza to a car used during a hit on a taxi boss in a separate murder, linked by the same gun and cartridges used in AKA’s death, and found on Myeza when he was arrested.

Car rental businessman Sonwabile Bani told the court that he leased a grey VW Polo and white Hyundai i10 to Gwabeni, which were allegedly used to execute the hit. Another witness, Imraan Khan, testified via affidavit that he rented a grey BMW to Gwabeni.

The state also led crucial testimony from a surveillance analyst from King Shaka International Airport, who on the second day of testifying told the court he had received death threats.

He presented video footage from the airport which showed Gwabeni tailing AKA from the airport to Hilton Hotel in uMhlanga and then to Wish restaurant.

The trial continues on Tuesday.