Nellie Tembe death: Police give update on investigations

The police in the Western Cape have wrapped up an investigation into the passing of Anele “Nellie” Tembe, the fiancée of rapper AKA, the whose given name is Kiernan Forbes.

However, the Tembe family and Forbes said they had not been made aware of the conclusion of the investigation.

Tembe died after she fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town. She was in the city to attend an event with the musician.

The publication has learnt that the police concluded their investigation in December and presented the file to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for a decision, which is yet to be made.

This is after the NPA had returned the same docket to the police in July last year, stating that the matter was a suicide investigation and what the police had provided had elements of suspicion of murder.

Western Cape police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said:

Kindly be advised that the investigation into the matter you are referring to has been completed. The case has since been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision, hence the merits of the case will not be discussed on an open platform, in a bid to respect the privacy of the relatives.

NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila could not provide comment on the update in the case.

Tembe’s father, Moses, said the family had also not been given an update on the case. He added that the family had appointed an independent legal representative to focus on the case on their behalf.

“We are focusing on unveiling her tombstone and it is not a matter that we have been following closely. If there is a further inquiry to happen, it would be part of a process from the National Prosecuting Authority,” he said.

He added:

We have got somebody engaged and briefed to attend to all these matters, so we have not been told of these things. The person is a lawyer by profession. We are really trying to stress less about the process. None of this would bring back our daughter at the end of the day.

Forbes’ lawyer Rudolph Baloyi said they had found out through their own means that the investigation had in fact been concluded.

“From the onset, Mr Forbes places on record that neither he nor his legal team has received any form of communication from the SAPS/NPA since August or September 2021.

“It is important to note that Mr Forbes and/or his legal team have not had any contact with the SAPS/NPA since September 2021, but, through our own efforts, we were made to understand that the investigation was completed in late 2021 or early 2022,” Baloyi said.

He added that the Tembes deserved closure on the matter.

“They deserve for this matter to come to finality. Everyone who was close to Anele deserves that much.”