Anele Tembe inquest reopens in Cape Town as family seeks answers

A formal inquest into the death of Anele “Anna” Tembe reopens on 13 July 2026 in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court as her family seeks fresh answers about her fatal fall from a hotel balcony nearly five years earlier. The proceedings are expected to hear from six witnesses and will examine whether anyone can be held responsible for her death.

What will the inquest examine?

The inquest will review the evidence surrounding Tembe’s fall and weigh competing accounts and new material presented by the family. Tembe fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel on 11 April 2021, while in Cape Town with rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes.

New evidence and family concerns

In the run-up to the inquest, new text messages have been reported. One exchange is said to be between AKA and a Tembe family lawyer about an earlier incident at the Hilton Hotel, where Anele allegedly threatened to jump from a building. Another chat reportedly includes messages in which Anele spoke about attempting to take her own life and warned that

“if there was a next time, she would ‘do it for good.'”

The Tembe family has asked the National Prosecuting Authority to probe alleged discrepancies between the lawyer’s affidavit and the texts.

Previous findings and steps to inquest

The National Prosecuting Authority earlier found that Tembe took her own life; the Tembe family has consistently contested that finding. After AKA’s assassination in 2024, the NPA referred the matter for an inquest that the family hopes will provide clarity.

Context: the assassination of AKA

On 10 February 2024, Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were shot dead outside Wish Restaurant in Durban. CCTV footage of the incident was widely circulated and showed the pair being shot; police described the attack as a targeted assassination.

Disputed responsibility and public statements

Tony Forbes, AKA’s father, publicly insisted his son was not a murderer. Former police minister Bheki Cele told Parliament that investigators had not ruled out murder and criticised the NPA for not enrolling the case. Cele said:

“It’s an obvious case. You should ask the prosecutor who did not enrol it in the Western Cape. I went to the president, personally. I said: ‘Mr President, your minister of police is going to do something funny. He’s going to support the private prosecution. And the prosecutor refused to give a certificate. So, you can’t prosecute, you can’t give a certificate. So, you’re stuck in the middle. But now I know that in that inquest, the magistrate that is there now is asking the question, why this thing was not enrolled?”

Family hopes and next steps

The Tembe family has said they hope witness testimony and the newly surfaced messages will shed light on whether Tembe’s death was suicide, an accident or foul play. The inquest is expected to run over several days, with the magistrate tasked with weighing conflicting accounts and evidence.