In February 2023, South African rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes was shot and killed outside of a restaurant in Durban, a city in South Africa. Unrelated to his own death in 2023, Forbes was investigated in connection with the death of his fiancée, Anele “Nellie” Tembe, two years earlier.
On April 11, 2021, Tembe fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town. Initially, Forbes investigated this death, which was primarily treated as a suicide or unnatural death. In June 2022, the National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute anyone in the case. They returned the case docket to the investigating police for further review. Following this, Tembe’s family has vehemently disputed this suicide ruling. The family has alleged that Forbes pushed Tembe from the balcony, cleaning up blood and evidence in the room afterward. Forbes had publicly denied his involvement in Tembe’s death.
Tembe’s family has successfully pressured the court to open a formal judicial inquest into her death. Hearings have taken place in recent months, with the most recent being held on October 20, 2026.
Cape Town DOCTORS’ Testimony May INDICATE Foul Play
In the hearing on October 20, the doctor who examined rapper AKA right after Tembe’s death revealed information about the rapper’s injuries. The doctor claims to have found fresh scratches and bruises on the rapper. In the hearing reported through Times Live, the doctor stated, “The physical examination was done on the patient after exposing his full body. He had many fresh scratch marks. It was quite a tense examination. He wasn’t answering all my questions as I was putting them to him. We convinced him to undress so we could go through the full-body examination. I could understand that at that particular time, he was a bit stressed and agitated. So, we couldn’t get a proper history of how he got his bruises.”
Just one day before the hearing, Forbes’ father questioned this report, as well as the location of the marks on his son’s body. He questioned why no one is focused on the gaps in the medical report and this doctor’s claims. Forbes’ father attended the hearing on Monday. Times Live reports that he claimed, “There are things happening at this inquest where I feel the right facts are not being put on the table, and what’s being put on the table is not being questioned in terms of how accurate it is.”
The next date of this formal inquest has been postponed until November 17, 2026. These proceedings were adjourned to allow further forensic testimony from forensic, medical, and toxicology experts.
Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images
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