AKA’s death recalls his late fiancée’s father’s emotional funeral speech

South Africa has recalled a speech by Moses Tembe, the father of AKA’s late fiancée Anele “Nellie” Tembe during her funeral.

This comes after AKA’s death was confirmed in a statement issued by his family on the morning of Saturday, February 11.

South Africans have been speculating that a hit was placed on AKA by Anele Tembe’s father, resulting in the Touch My Blood rapper being gunned down on Friday evening while leaving a restaurant by unknown assailants.

Similarly, Anele’s death was shrouded in mystery as she died after an incident at the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town where she fell from the 10th floor. Police opened an inquest but no arrests were made.

In a letter read on his behalf by close Sandile Zungu, Anele Tembe’s father categorically dismissed the narrative that his daughter committed suicide and had been suicidal for the most part of her life.

This made South Africans believe that Anele’s father believed AKA was behind his daughter’s death. Below is what Anele’s father said:

I wasn’t there when Anele met her fate last Sunday. I neither seek to attack any person nor cast aspersions nor create suspicions or stigmatise any mental condition.

Read alsoRapper Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes dead at 35

However, I can’t allow an unfortunate narrative to go unchallenged. A narrative that irks me no end as a father, which maliciously pervades some circles, that Anele, my daughter, was chronically suicidal or had suicidal tendencies.

All I can say is that, until she turned 21, Anele wouldn’t consider taking her 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 not have been Anele’s challenge. On the contrary, Anele loved herself so much, she wanted to live more rather than less.

As Anele’s father, I hereby state categorically that Anele was neither suicidal nor did she commit suicide.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to understand the forces that put us in a situation that we find ourselves. Of course, we must as a matter of extreme priority deal with the scourge that bedevils our youth. Alcohol, which is overused and drugs, especially if we envisage our youth contributing meaningfully to our nation-building and economic development efforts.

Fellow South Africans we better wake up and smell the coffee. We have a serious problem with substance abuse and add to that other social ills, then we are in a crisis.

 More articles

Abraham Attah's acting prowess brings tears to my eyes - Idris Elba

MJ The Comedian ‘borla’ skit yields results