Blood-Stained Evidence Examined In Anele Tembe Inquest As AKA’s Account Faces Scrutiny

The following article contains descriptions of death. Reader discretion is advised.

Blood-stained evidence, a disorganised hotel room and the condition of a Cape Town hotel balcony came under scrutiny as the inquest into the death of Anele Tembe heard evidence on Monday.

Lawyers representing Tembe’s family questioned aspects of the account given by her fiancé, slain rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, about what happened before the 22-year-old fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in April 2021.

The inquest is being heard at the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court, five years after Tembe’s death.

A police officer who attended the scene described the condition of the hotel room where Tembe and Forbes had been staying.

Blood-Stained Bottle And Linen Examined

The witness told the court that investigators found a champagne bottle with blood on it. Its wrapping had been torn off and the top of the bottle was missing.

There was also a bloodstain of about 30 centimetres on the bed linen, smaller bloodstains on towels and a drop of blood on a wall near the bathroom.

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The officer said the state of the room indicated that something had happened inside it.

“You could see something happened. It was very disorganised, the whole room. It was a mess,” he said.

According to the witness, Forbes told police that he and Tembe had argued but that the confrontation had not become physical.

He said Forbes' account was that the argument concerned pressure on Tembe to marry him and pressure from her father.

“He never mentioned that there were physical fights between the two of them,” the officer testified.

The police then examined evidence from inside the room and the balcony from which Tembe fell.

Balcony Evidence Questioned

The Tembe family's lawyer questioned the physical evidence on the balcony and challenged the account that Tembe had climbed over the railing before her death.

The lawyer suggested that if Tembe had walked towards the railing and climbed over it, investigators might have expected to find footprints on the balcony and handprints on the railing.

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The officer agreed with the suggestion but pointed to another item found at the scene.

A chair was found near the railing, which he said could have been used to get over it.

The testimony forms part of the court's examination of the circumstances surrounding Tembe's fall.

Police Witness Describes Forbes’ Demeanour

The officer was also questioned about Forbes' conduct after Tembe's fall.

The family's lawyer asked whether Forbes had told police that he tried to stop Tembe from jumping, whether he called for first responders or whether he attempted to go down to assist her.

The warrant officer said Forbes did not tell him that he had done any of those things.

The officer was also asked about Forbes' emotional state when police arrived.

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“He didn't look any sad or anything like that. He looked, to be honest, looked quite fine,” he said.

He explained that people respond differently to the death of someone close to them.

“I've dealt with a lot of cases with people that will cry, and some people will be [sitting] still, don't talk to you at all. He looked quite fine to me, to be honest.”

The evidence heard on Monday forms part of the inquest's wider examination of Tembe's death. The proceedings are not a criminal trial and testimony presented at the inquest remains subject to the court's assessment.