Tony Forbes, the father of the late rapper AKA, has publicly criticized former Police Minister Bheki Cele for his recent parliamentary comments suggesting that AKA may have murdered his fiancée, Anele Tembe. Forbes expressed deep concern that Cele’s statements have unfairly reignited public speculation and threaten to prejudice a sensitive legal process.
The remarks were made during an interview on the SMWX Podcast. “The one thing I am very concerned about is comments being made. For example, Bheki Cele at the Ad Hoc Committee making the comments that the police believe Kiernan murdered Anele,” Forbes stated. “His words still carry a lot of weight, and there are people on social media saying we always suspected something, and that confirms it.”
Forbes emphasized that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had thoroughly examined all the evidence—including dockets, affidavits, and forensic reports—before concluding there were no grounds to prosecute anyone for Tembe’s death in 2021. He stressed that this decision was not taken lightly and was made independently.
Cele’s testimony to Parliament revealed that police had investigated the possibility of homicide in Tembe’s fatal fall from a hotel balcony but that prosecutors ultimately declined to press charges. Tony Forbes, while seeking closure for his family, urged that the ongoing inquest into the tragedy be allowed to proceed without interference from the “court of public opinion,” which he feels has been unfairly influenced by Cele’s high-profile claims.