By: Natasha Archary
Moses Tembe is still seeking answers for his daughter, Anele Tembe’s untimely and tragic death, 3-years later.
For the first time since his 22-year old daughter’s naked body was found sprawled on the pavement outside the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town on Sunday, 11 April 2021, Moses Tembe says he is frustrated that the inquest into her death has been delayed by almost a year.
Speaking to SABC News reporter Chriselda Lewis in an exclusive interview, Moses Tembe maintained that he suspects foul play in his daughter’s death.
No closer to answers, Tembe recounted the moment he received the devastating phonecall informing him that Anele had “fallen” from the 10th floor hotel room she was sharing with her then fiancé Kiernan “AKA” Forbes.
AKA proposed to Anele in February 2021, just two months before her death.
“My family came in as I was preparing to go to church, and unexpectedly my brothers came to deliver the news to me. It was quite painful, in fact I was gutted. That sinking feeling where you feel like someone is taking the guts out of your stomach, it was quite painful.
What made it worse really is to hear one the news what happened. I was in Durban, as we live here, and when I switched on the TV to see your daughter laying there, covered in foil, is quite a traumatic experience.
At the time, we didn’t have any other details other than she’s fallen, so one I was beginning to think who was there at the time she fell.
We were told that she was alive for something like 20-minutes, and I wanted to know who was with her in those moments.
Anele loved her love, how much she respected herself and I knew her plans and that she was looking forward to the next chapter in her life.
I also knew that the way she loved herself, she would not strip naked and throw herself down. At the time we hadn’t received much background but from what we could see, and what we heard was that she was found by a lady in the street, so one did suspect foul play.”
Tembe said he wanted to see the day when the last person who was with his daughter, namely AKA, would have taken to the stands in a court of law as either a suspect, or a witness.
Shortly after Anele’s death, AKA opened up about their tumultuous relationship in an interview, and shared that he was not in the room when Anele “fell.”
In 2023, a few days after AKA was gunned down outside a restaurant on Florida Road, Durban, the NPA said the decision to not prosecute anyone for Anele’s death boiled down to extensive investigations by SAPS and prosecutors which entailed expert opinions and forensic reports.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicolette Bell decided not to prosecute anyone for Anele Tembe’s death due to extensive investigations by SAPS and prosecutors, which entailed expert opinions and forensic reports.
The Tembe family was notified about the NPA’s decision in June 2022.
While the Tembe family decided to make representations regarding the decision, an inquest in relation to Anele Tembe’s death was delayed.
Also read: 6 stabbed to death in Sydney, Australia mall attack
