Contrary to earlier reports, KwaZulu-Natal police have refuted any links between two suspects arrested in eSwatini and the shooting death of renowned rapper Kiernan Forbes, popularly known as AKA, in Durban. AKA, along with his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, was fatally shot outside the Wish Restaurant on Florida Road on February 10, 2023.
Speculations arose on Monday, suggesting that the apprehended suspects in eSwatini were tied to the murder case, awaiting extradition to South Africa. However, KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi dismissed these claims, emphasizing that any updates regarding the murder investigation would be communicated to the affected families and the media.
Mkhwanazi acknowledged the arrest of two murder suspects, clarifying that they were connected to a separate attempted murder and murder case in Berea, Johannesburg, on March 6, 2023. In that incident, a passenger was fatally shot, while the driver survived and sought help at a nearby petrol station.
The investigation into AKA and Tibz’s murder is described as complex, with ongoing analysis and processing of substantial evidential information. Mkhwanazi stressed that the police, engaged in a prosecution-led inquiry, would disclose details of the progress and findings once all aspects of the case were thoroughly examined.
AKA’s tragic demise occurred during his first visit to Durban since the mysterious death of his then-fiancée, Anele Tembe, who fell from the tenth floor of a Cape Town hotel. Despite initial beliefs of suicide, her family, during her funeral in April 2021, asserted that Anele was not suicidal, refuting claims of suicide as the cause of her death.