AKA Hits Out At Sinister Agenda To Influence Police Inquest Into Nelli's Death

South African rapper Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known professionally as AKA, says some of the people he and her late fiancee Anele Tembe loved and trusted with their troubles are now using them to malign his character.

In a statement on Saturday, AKA said he will not allow people to vilify him or soil Anele’s character to suit a certain narrative that he has not signed for. The statement read:

IT IS A SAD DAY WHEN I FIND MYSELF HAVING TO SPEAK TO THE NATURE OF MY RELATIONSHIP WITH ANELE. WHAT MAKES IT EVEN SADDER IS THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SOME OF THE PEOPLE, SHE AND I LOVED & ENTRUSTED WITH OUR DEEPEST TROUBLES, ARE NOW USING THOSE AS WEAPONS TO SET A NEGATIVE NARRATIVE ON MY CHARACTER.

I AM A PASSIONATE AND EMOTIONAL PERSON. WHAT I WILL NOT DO AND STAND FOR IS WATCHING PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO DISPARAGE MY NAME AND IMPORTANTLY, ANELE’S CHARACTER TO SUIT A NARRATIVE WE BOTH NEVER SIGNED UP FOR.

WE ENJOYED A BEAUTIFUL, YET CHALLENGING RELATIONSHIP THAT AT TIMES WAS TUMULTUOUS, LIKE ALL RELATIONSHIPS.  MADE WORSE BY THE PRESSURES OF BEING IN THE PUBLIC EYE, WHICH WE TOO PLAYED UP TO.

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AS NUMB AS I WAS AT ANELE’S FUNERAL, I TOOK IN EVERY WORD IMPARTED, THE DIRECT ONES AND ALL THOSE FILLED WITH INNUENDOS.

I WILL NOT BE A PART OF SPEAKING ON OR EXPOSING OUR TROUBLES AS A COUPLE, TO DEFEND MYSELF FROM ONE-SIDED VIEWS THAT ARE PORTRAYED OUT OF THEIR FULL CONTEXT.

EVERY STORY HAS TWO SIDES AND SO DOES EVERY VIDEO, IMAGE AND MESSAGE. I AM FULLY AWARE OF WHO THE ‘SOURCES’ ENGAGING MEDIA ARE AND WHAT THEIR INTENTION IS, WHICH IS TO INFLUENCE THE SAPS INQUEST – WHICH THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER HAS STATED NUMEROUS TIMES TO MY LEGAL TEAM AND TO THEM, THAT I KIERNAN JARRYD FORBES, HAVE NOT BEEN NAMED TO BE A SUSPECT, BUT HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT A COOPERATING WITNESS.

WHAT I WILL SAY AS MY TRUTH; I WAS AND STILL AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH A GIRL, CARRYING WHATEVER PAST TRAUMAS SHE FACED BEFORE I MET HER.

I OWN UP TO MY PAST AND CURRENT TRAUMAS, AND THUS I HAVE SUBMITTED MYSELF TO PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL COUNSELLING FOR MY OWN BENEFIT AND GROWTH.

I HOPE EVERYONE AFFECTED BY ANELE’S TRAUMATIC PASSING DOES THE SAME FOR THEMSELVES, INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY, SO THAT WE MAY ALL AFFORD HER SPIRIT THE REST SHE DESERVES AND COME TO TERMS WITH THE CHOICE SHE MADE THAT FATEFUL MORNING OF 11 APRIL.

Anele Tembe died at the five-star Pepperclub Hotel in central Cape Town last month after she allegedly jumped from the 10th floor of the building.