AKA’s family ‘upset’ by viral CCTV footage

Kiernan “AKA” Forbes' family has expressed dismay over the CCTV footage widely share on social media showing the late rapper's last moments.

AKA was shot dead at a popular restaurant in Durban's Florida Road on Friday. The shooting also resulted in the death of his lifelong friend and celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.

A search has been launched for two men identified as suspects in the footage. 

Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, Forbes' family lawyer Rudolph Baloyi said the family was “upset” over the footage being shared online. He said the family, except for AKA's father, had not seen the video before. 

Baloyi said the family was investigating how the video ended up online and whether there are grounds for legal action. 

“By the time the videos became available, everybody was shocked. Everybody then understood the full extent of what happened and how brutal it was,” he said. 

“For the videos to be uploaded online, obviously the family would have wanted to keep everything private. You don't want to have such images of your child floating out there in the world for everybody to see.”

Speaking on eNCA, criminologist Prof Kholofelo Rakubu said sharing the footage could lead to more violence. She said it invites multiple armchair judges and investigators. 

“It will lead to more violence because everyone around the victim at that particular time is a suspect in the eyes of the community. All gestures, legitimate, intentional and normal, are being analysed.”

Rakubu said the leaked footage could either hamper or help investigations. 

“CCTV is an important investigative tool. It might assist but also hinder the case. It might assist because the investigating team might look at certain movements and so forth.

“However, it might not assist because during the investigation multiple voices matter and investigators and their judgment and views are questioned.”