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New video evidence of violence in AKA-Anele’s lives

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER

THE  camera pans into the lounge. Evidence of either violence or unkempt house comes into view. 

The 22-year-old Nellie Tembe, wearing a black crop top, and black leggings storms into a lounge area, running away from a man in a white T-shirt, yelling loudly ”get away from me” as the man tries to calm her down.

Tembe then falls to the ground and screams: “Look what he’s doing, you guys don’t know what he’s been doing to me!”

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The person behind the camera is believed to be rap star AKA (real name Kiernan Forbes), and is heard claiming that Tembe was under the influence and acting suicidal.

“Look at all this,” he says as he pans the camera over the room, showing it in disarray with broken photo frames, shattered glass items on the floor, and furniture moved aside or turned over from Tembe running around the room. 

“We’ve got somebody here under the influence, tried to jump off the balcony, my eardrums are ringing, I think I burst my eardrum. I have a witness that witnessed that I did not fight back and there is no fighting back from my side.”

This dramatic footage has triggered questions about the causes of Tembe’s death and brought gender based violence into sharp focus. 

The video footage is one of two, plus still photographs, that have gone viral, leading to calls for her death to be investigated. The developments have also lent some credence to Tembe’s father belief that his daughter did not commit suicide.

Back to the footage. As Tembe remains in crouched positions, on the floor, next to a bed, AKA pans the camera and a panic-stricken Tembe comes into view. She is rocking back and forth, with her head low as she cries: “I want my mom. I want my mom”.

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AKA’s voice comes through: “This is how it looks, so when we go to court, this is what I want people to see, thank you.”

There is also a picture from that night of AKA himself with a bruise on his temple. 

AKA with a bruise on his temple. Picture: Supplied

The second video apparently recorded by AKA, follows the first video that hit social media. In that footage the rapper is seen trying to break down a door with his bare hands, allegedly trying to get into the bedroom where Tembe locked herself. 

A screenshot of Forbes in the video. Picture: Twitter

In the video footage, Forbes is seen breaking the door down and entering the bedroom wearing black shorts, black socks and a ripped black shirt. The alleged incident left Anele Tembe bruised, with the footage showing her nursing her face with an ice pack.

Anele ‘Nellie’ Tembe nursing her face. Picture: Supplied 

The allegations were made in a News24 report in which a friend of Tembe, who did not want to be named, claimed to have images and footage allegedly sent to her by Tembe of an altercation with Forbes that took place in their Johannesburg apartment. 

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“My beloved friend, a daughter and a sister to many, was the victim of gender-based violence, an act that has become a scourge in the country,” a friend told News24.

Tembe’s friend explained that AKA was allegedly under the influence of drugs in the incident, and that Tembe had told her that he had smashed her face into a wall during an argument and she went to hide in the bedroom.

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AKA responded to the videos and allegations in a statement, admitting that his two-year relationship with fiancee Tembe was beautiful yet challenging. 

“I am fully aware of who the sources engaging media are and what their intention is, which is to influence the SAPS inquest, which the investigating officer has stated numerous times to my legal team and to them, that I, Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, have not been named to be a suspect, but have been nothing but a cooperating witness.”

“As numb as I was at Anele’s funeral, I took in every word imparted, the direct ones and all those filled with innuendos. 

“I will not be a part of speaking on or exposing our troubles as a couple, to defend myself from one-sided views that are portrayed out of their full context. Every story has two sides and so does every video, image and message,” AKA said in the statement.

AKA said the claims were being used to fuel a negative image of his character. He also  said that the matters of his relationship were magnified by the pressure from the public eye.

“I am a passionate and emotional person. What I will not do and stand for is watching people attempt to disparage my name and, importantly, Anele’s character to suit a narrative we both never signed up for.” 

“What I will say as my truth, I was and still am madly in love with a girl, carrying whatever past traumas she faced before I met her. I own up to my past and current traumas, and thus I have submitted myself to psychological and spiritual counselling for my own benefit and growth,” Forbes further wrote. 

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AKA  and Tembe got engaged in February, months before the alleged violent incident in the videos and Tembe’s fall. 

Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and Anele ‘Nelli’ Tembe. Picture: Instagram

Tembe fell to her death from a penthouse on the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel on 11 April in Cape Town, in what is believed to have been a suicide. 

Her father, Moses Tembe, refuted claims that Anele was suicidal during her funeral service. 

Scores of South Africans, including activists and GBV-awareness organisations, have lambasted the actions by AKA, calling for his arrest and for his music to be removed from radio stations and television channels. 

The leaked videos also brought back gender-based violence (GBV) into focus in South Africa, with activists, celebrities and organisations reminding South Africans that domestic violence is a crime, and a dire standalone public issue. 

The Western Cape police are currently investigating Tembe’s death and responded to the public’s demands on the allegations of abuse, saying that they had “no comment” on the video and allegations, as they are still focused on their current case involving Tembe’s fall.

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AKA at Anele Tembe’s funeral in Cape Town. Picture: Twitter
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By The African Mirror

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