She did not commit suicide – Nelli Tembe’s father finally speaks out

The reflections of a heartbroken father and a farewell to a beloved daughter,” was the title of Moses Tembe’s eulogy, as he shared a few heartfelt words on his daughter’s farewell ceremony. The funeral ceremony of Anele Tembe is underway at the Durban ICC and is streamed on YouTube.

Moses Tembe, the father of the late Anele Tembe, who was engaged to rapper AKA could not bare the task of speaking at his daughter’s ceremony. So he asked a close family friend to read out his eulogy as he knew Nelli like his own daughter. Starting off with a bible verse, he then went on to read the eulogy of the heartbroken father.

“I love all my children, they make my life complete. Anele made me happy as a father, very happy. In that respect, Anele excelled, she went the extra mile in making me happy as a father of a girl child. Anele was feisty, very feisty, strong-willed, as some would say,” he started, adding that she was very stubborn and a person who did not mince her words.

Anele had big dreams, according to her father. She wanted to open the first Michelin star-graded restaurant in Mzansi. The international trips caused her to enter the culinary industry.

As he progressed, he revealed that she was not a woman who was into boys and dating, but she wanted to settle down with a man. “Her wish was to fall in love and get married to a man that would become the father of her children,” he said.

Nonetheless, he was very excited for his daughter’s relationship with AKA and welcomed the Forbes family with open arms. But, he had one condition that they undergo pre-marital counselling and base their marriage in a Godly manner, as marriage needed more than just love.

He then goes on to refute claims that his daughter suffered from mental health or was ever suicidal in any manner. He respectfully stated that he is not downplaying the illness, but his daughter would have never saw suicide as a way out, neither did their family believe her to be that person.

“I was neither there when Anele met her fate last Sunday. I neither seek to attack any person, nor cast aspersions, nor create suspicions nor stigmatize any mental condition, however, I cannot allow an unfortunate narrative go unchallenged. A narrative which is maliciously purveyed in some circles that Anele, my daughter, was chronically suicidal or had suicidal tendencies.

“All I can say is that until she turned 21, Anele would not consider taking her own life as a solution. Not a single member of my family, Anele’s family will have ever associated Anele with suicide, it never arose. Living would have never been Anele’s challenge,” he said.

“As Anele’s father, I hereby state categorically that Anele was neither suicidal nor did she commit suicide,” he stated. He then goes on to add that as a society, people should caution the youth about alcohol usage and drug usage as well.

EARLIER: Family friend Sandile Zungu chokes up as he reads a tribute from Anele Tembe’s parents. Her dad, Moses, categorically states she did not die of suicide. #RIPNellie pic.twitter.com/5ZMG7qQGNO

— Nokukhanya Mntambo (@khanya_mntambo) April 16, 2021