"He told me he thought she was just playing!" - The late Anele Tembe's inquest resumes in court

 

Photo Credit: Facebook/Tini Premiere

Johannesburg - New information surrounding the late Anele Tembe's death has re-surfaced at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court recently.

The new information comes amidst an official, legal inquiry conducted to determine the cause and circumstances surrounding the late culinary chef's untimely death.

According to The Citizen, Tembe was only 22-years-old when she tragically died on the 11th of April 2021 after falling from the tenth floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town, where she had been staying with her then fiancé, the late rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes.

The publication reports that two police officers had entered the hotel to establish what had happened after being alerted of the incident moments later.

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The two officers were initially taken to room 105, where they found Forbes and members of his entourage, instead of room 104, which was the room that had been occupied by the couple at the time of the incident.

According to one of the testimonies given in court, Forbes told one of the police officers that he and Tembe had argued earlier that morning and his fiancé had threatened to jump off the hotel's building during their heated altercation.

The subpoenaed officer who gave his testimony told the court that the late rapper had told him that he had thought that his late fiancée "was just playing" by threatening to jump off the hotel's building.

"He told me he thought she was just playing. 

"She was not going to jump because she tried that before in Durban.

"Maybe he thought it was going to be the same," said the officer.

A second officer indicated that Forbes appeared “fine” and was not crying following his fiancée's death.

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Images of the heated altercation were caught by the hotel's CCTV footage and soon filled social media timelines with alleged rumours of substance abuse in their high profile relationship.

According to The Mail & Guardian the manager of the Pepperclub Hotel told the court that he was alerted that someone had fallen from the building and subsequently became involved in the hotel’s response to the incident. 

He testified that, after Tembe’s fateful fall, Forbes and members of his entourage ordered alcohol from the hotel which he said that he instructed his staff not to fulfil the order because he considered it inappropriate given what had happened. 

The inquest has now been postponed to the 19th of October 2026 for more further testimonies.

The late award-wining Hip Hop rapper and his late fiancee's relationship has long been a subject of tabloid fodder during their lifetimes together.