By Kaya 959 Entertainment
AKA’s father, Tony Forbes, has responded to growing calls for the rapper’s music to be muted.
The ‘Congratulate’ hitmaker made headlines on Sunday after shocking images showed him breaking down a door, allegedly to get to his then-fiancée, Anele ‘Nelli’ Tembe.
The images were screenshots from an unreleased video, believed to have been recorded in March.
Controversial poet, Ntsiki Mazwai, was one of the first to call for AKA’s music to be muted.
“I think all radio stations need to mute AKA music till further notice…..” she tweeted on Monday.
I think all radio stations need to mute AKA music till further notice…..
— NtsikiMazwaiMedia (@ntsikimazwai) May 10, 2021
Women for Change South Africa also called on AKA’s sponsors to drop him.
“It is overdue to show South Africa once and for all that women matter!” the NPO tweeted.
We are demanding all Radio Stations, TV stations, @Spotify , @youtubemusic and @Cruzvodka to #MUTEAKA with immediate effect!
It is overdue to show South Africa once and for all that women matter! #kiernan #anele pic.twitter.com/xN8Om172mA
— Women For Change (@womenforchange5) May 10, 2021
AKA’s father reacts
AKA’s father responded to the #MuteAKA call by sharing his views on a post Women for Change shared on Instagram.
“You want to mute him so that you don’t have to listen to the other side of the story? You want to take away a man’s bread and butter on the basis of an unnamed source who sent images showing him breaking down a door, nothing more?”
Tony questioned if the NPO had “engaged the verifiable facts”.
“Does your justice for women include the principles of transparency, the truth, process and fairness? If so, fight first to hear all the facts on both sides. Demand that before you condemn him.
“No one is hiding here or running away. Demand it from the tabloids. If you do not subscribe to the principles mentioned, what differentiates you from a vigilante group? And is this really the change for women in South Africa you are after?”
AKA’s father Tony Forbes lashes out at people who are calling out for AKA to be muted #MuteAKA Tony is saying yall wanna take AKA’s bread without verifiable facts following a series of pictures of AKA breaking the door emerged. pic.twitter.com/Xg9193tCoh
— Musa Khawula (@khawula_musa) May 12, 2021
Mixed reactions
While some agreed with Tony’s comments, urging people to wait for the facts, many were not buying it.
“Wow, how shallow … did you not see her screaming at the top of her lungs ‘you don’t know what he did to me?’ Like this girl isn’t here to defend herself and he just gets to control the narrative,” one woman replied.
Some called for the full video of AKA breaking down the door to be released.
But many said they had seen enough to make up their minds.
“I saw two short clips of a 21-year-old girl screaming for help from her boyfriend who is well in his 30s not long before she was found dead, that’s enough reason for me to “jump into conclusion” seeing that we living in a country with one of the highest GBV stats in the world.”
Tony told those commenting that he had seen the video.
“I did see it. I do also know more than what appears in that video. I am saying exactly what you are accusing me of. Don’t be shallow, look deeper before you judge.”
No new developments
Meanwhile, police have not shared any new details about their investigation into Nelli’s death.
The 22-year-old fell to her death from the 10th story of a Cape Town hotel in April.
Nelli’s father, Moses Tembe, told mourners at her funeral that he did not believe she committed suicide.
He instead hinted that substance abuse could have played a part.
“As Anele’s father, I categorically state that Anele was neither suicidal nor did she commit suicide.
“We must, as a matter of priority, deal with the scourge that bedevils our youth, alcohol, which is overused, and drugs. Fellow South Africans we better wake up and smell the coffee. We have a serious problem with substance abuse,” his tribute read.
