IDO LEKOTA

Cape Town — July 14, 2026 – Photo: Instagram

More than five years after Anele Tembe fell to her death from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town, a long-awaited judicial inquest into the circumstances of her death has finally opened — only to be postponed again within hours, this time by an illness that struck the presiding magistrate.

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How we got here

Anele “Nellie” Tembe, 22, died on April 11, 2021, while in Cape Town with her fiancé, the rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, who was in the room with her at the time. In the months that followed, speculation swirled over whether her death was a suicide, a tragic accident, or the result of foul play. AKA was investigated by police but never charged.

At her funeral, her father, the KwaZulu-Natal businessman Moses Tembe, made clear the family would not accept a narrative that painted his daughter as someone who had been chronically suicidal, vowing to challenge that account. The Tembe family’s lawyers went on to send the National Prosecuting Authority detailed letters pointing to evidence they felt had been overlooked — including blood found on hotel room towels, the absence of fingerprints on the balcony railing, and signs of a possible struggle. They also used the Promotion of Access to Information Act to force the state to hand over the police docket.

In 2022, the Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, decided not to prosecute anyone, concluding that the evidence pointed toward suicide rather than a crime. The case might have ended there. Then, on February 10, 2023, AKA himself was shot and killed alongside his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane outside a restaurant on Florida Road in Durban, as he prepared to leave for a nearby gig. His murder trial is now separately set down at the Durban High Court, running from October 5 to November 8, 2026, after a pre-trial hearing set for August 13.

With AKA gone and unable to give his own account, the NPA ultimately referred the Tembe matter to a formal judicial inquest rather than letting it rest. Public scrutiny intensified further in October 2025, when then-Police Minister Bheki Cele told a parliamentary ad hoc committee that police investigators believed Tembe had been murdered and had not ruled out foul play, criticising prosecutors for failing to enrol the case.

Where things stand today

The inquest was finally set to open on Monday, July 13, 2026, at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, with six subpoenaed witnesses due to testify over three days. Proceedings were to examine police, forensic and CCTV evidence, along with cellphone records, in order to determine whether anyone could be held responsible for Tembe’s death — with the magistrate’s findings to be referred back to the NPA, which would then decide whether any prosecution should follow.

Within hours of opening, the hearing hit a snag: the presiding magistrate suffered a medical emergency and the matter has now been postponed to a five-day sitting from September 7 to 9, with two further days on September 15 and 16. NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the delay, telling reporters, “It was expected to start this morning.” He said the inquest’s eventual findings would determine how the matter proceeds and could be referred back to the NPA for a decision.

The delay has not slowed the flow of new evidence into the public domain. Over the weekend before the hearing, News24 published a reconstruction of Tembe’s final hours built from CCTV footage, incident reports, receipts and social media activity. And on the eve of the inquest, Tony Forbes — AKA’s father — published a series of WhatsApp exchanges between his son, Tembe and a lawyer representing the Tembe family, relating to an earlier incident at the Hilton Hotel in Durban in December 2020, during which Tembe allegedly threatened to jump from a building.

Two families, two accounts

The Forbes family: Tony Forbes has been the most vocal in recent days, saying he released the messages to bring balance to the public conversation after what he called character assassinations of his son, rather than waiting for the inquest itself. He maintains the texts support the NPA’s original finding that there was no foul play and highlight contradictions with sworn affidavits already in the docket. Of his son, he has insisted, “He did not murder her, he did not kill her.” Forbes has also pushed back on media coverage ahead of the hearing, arguing that evidence should be tested in court rather than “debated” in public, and has written that people should “Read the texts and decide for yourself.”

The Tembe family: The Tembe family has largely declined to engage publicly with Forbes’s release of the messages, saying through a spokesperson that it did not want to add to the pain already carried by both households: “We would not add salt to the wound felt by both families.” The family has previously said it sees the new material — including the disputed text messages and forthcoming witness testimony — as evidence that could finally establish whether Tembe’s death was suicide, an accident or foul play, and it continues to press the NPA to investigate what it describes as discrepancies between the family lawyer’s earlier affidavit and the newly surfaced texts.

What happens next

All parties have agreed to the new September dates. The NPA says it is still waiting to hear whether the Forbes family will appoint new legal representation after two of its lawyers withdrew from the case, and whether that side intends to call witnesses of its own. When the inquest does resume, the magistrate will hear from police investigators, forensic experts and the six subpoenaed witnesses, weigh the CCTV and cellphone evidence, and ultimately decide whether Tembe’s death should be treated as a suicide, an accident, or a matter warranting criminal referral back to the NPA — a decision both families, in their own ways, say they have waited five years to see tested in open court.

This story discusses suicide and self-harm. If you or someone you know is struggling, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) helpline is available on 0800 567 567, or you can SMS 31393.