By Thapelo Molefe
Kiernan “AKA” Forbes ordered tequila shooters for his hotel room about two hours after his fiancée, Anele Tembe, fell to her death from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town, the inquest into her death heard on Wednesday.
The order was made on the morning of 11 April 2021, shortly after Tembe’s fatal fall, but hotel management refused to supply the alcohol, saying it was inappropriate given what had happened.
Forbes and members of his entourage were staying in room 1005 at the hotel.
A hotel guest told the inquest that she was having breakfast when she overheard an order for tequila and shooters being made by telephone to the hotel.
The waitress repeated the order and confirmed the room number.
The witness said she found the request unusual after learning that Tembe had fallen from the 10th floor.
“We were sitting next to the reception area and we heard they were ordering tequila shooters. We had heard about the incident in that room and it did not make sense, especially after what happened,” she testified.
The hotel’s general manager and director told the court that he was informed about the order and decided the alcohol should not be supplied.
“I said it was not something we should entertain. They were not happy about the restrictions and I had to speak to them,” he testified.
The manager said Forbes appeared unhappy when informed that the hotel would not provide the alcohol but did not become upset.
“We did not discuss it. It was a decision that could not be revoked,” he said.
The alcohol order formed part of evidence about events at the hotel before and after Tembe’s death.
One witness testified that she heard a young woman shouting from the room.
She described the woman as hysterical and said she repeatedly heard her shout: “Leave me, get away from me.”
The witness said the sequence happened quickly. There was a brief pause before she heard a loud bang, followed by a male voice screaming, “My God, my God.”
She estimated the entire sequence lasted four or five seconds.
Another witness, who was staying on the 11th floor, testified that he heard a woman screaming at about 7.30am before hearing a loud bang.
He initially thought there had been a car accident.
When he looked outside, he saw a woman lying on the concrete below.
“As I looked to my right, AKA came out to the balcony, and when he looked down, he started screaming,” the witness told the court.
He said Forbes appeared to come onto the balcony as if he was “looking for something” before seeing Tembe’s body.
The witness said he gestured to Forbes that “it was going to be okay” before calling an ambulance.
He testified that Forbes then returned to the hotel room while he made the call.
The witness said Forbes did not come downstairs to where Tembe’s body was and that he did not see the rapper again after the incident.
The hotel manager also testified about Forbes’ interaction with police following the fall.
He said he did not recall Forbes asking about Tembe’s condition or what had happened to her. Instead, Forbes asked police what would happen next.
“He asked the police what’s the next step. I remember him asking the police if he could make a statement while he still remembered,” the manager testified.
The evidence follows testimony on Monday about the condition of the hotel room.
A police officer who attended the scene told the court that the room was in disarray, with blood found on towels on the floor, on linen and around a champagne bottle.
The inquest has also heard evidence that the couple had argued before Tembe’s fall.
One witness testified about hearing an argument and screams from the room, while other evidence placed Forbes on the balcony shortly after the fall.
Tembe was 22 when she died after falling from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel. She was engaged to Forbes at the time.
The inquest, which is examining the circumstances surrounding her death, resumed this week more than five years after her death.
Witnesses, including police officers, hotel employees and guests, have given evidence since proceedings began on Monday.
The magistrate has ordered that witnesses may not be filmed, recorded or named without their consent.
Tembe’s family said on Monday that it would respect the inquest process and would not comment on the evidence while proceedings were under way.
“The Tembe Family is comforted by the resumption of Inquest this morning,” the family spokesperson said.
The family said it had noted evidence from SAPS and other witnesses and believed it would be “inhumane” to say anything that could deepen the trauma suffered by survivors of both families.
The inquest was postponed on Wednesday to 19 October for further witness testimony.
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