‘When Love Kills’: Anele Tembe, AKA toxic love affair becomes a book

The tragic, toxic love story of Anele Tembe and AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes is being explored in a new book titled When Love Kills.

Award-winning author and journalist Melinda Ferguson has written the book.

Thursday, 11 April, marks the third anniversary of Anele’s death after she fell to her death off the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel while in the company of her partner.

It’s also a little over 14 months since her fiance, AKA, was shot and killed in what is believed to be a hit.

ANELE TEMBE, AKA BOOK ‘WHEN LOVE KILLS’ TO HIT SHELVES

According to NBA Publishers, When Love Kills is expected to hit bookshelves in April 2024.

A description of the book reads: “When Love Kills is the tale of hip hop star, AKA whose life unravelled when he embarked on a relationship with 21-year-old Anele Tembe. 

“When she “fell” to her death from the 10th story of the Pepper Club in April 2021, after a long night of heated arguing, details would emerge that they’d been caught up in a whirlwind of toxic obsession, alleged substance abuse, and violence. 

“Less than two years later, AKA was assassinated in what looked like a hit to avenge her death. This is their tragic story.”

AKA and Anele Tembe first began dating in early 2020, months after he ended his relationship with his baby mama, DJ Zinhle. In February 2021, AKA and Anele announced their engagement. A few weeks later, the rapper successfully paid lobola for his bride.

The whirlwind romance was far from fairytales and rainbows. By his own admission, AKA claimed their relationship was “toxic” and filled with heated arguments, including physical altercations. He also claimed that Anele often threatened to end her life.

OTHER CELEB MEMOIRS

When Love Kills is one of many celebrity books written by Melinda Ferguson.

In 2012, Melinda penned the biography The Kelly Khumalo Story about the controversial singer’s “fall from grace, disastrous relationships with men and addiction to cocaine.”

In 2014, a year after the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, Melinda wrote Oscar: An Accident Waiting To Happen about her killer Oscar Pistorius. The book was written with the help of Samantha Taylor, who dated Pistorius in the months before he shot and killed Reeva.

INQUEST VS MURDER TRIAL

Last year, AKA or Kiernan Forbes was shot and killed by hired hitmen in Durban. 

In 2021, Anele Tembe fell to her death off the tenth floor of the Pepperclub Hotel, in Cape Town’s CBD. According to the rapper’s admission, the couple argued just moments before her death.

In the months that followed Anele’s death, AKA was accused of being involved, a claim he vehemently denied. At the time of his death, a leaked letter to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) revealed how the Tembe family suspected the rapper of foul play.

While the NPA decided not to prosecute anyone, namely AKA, following an inquest, Anele’s family have since made legal representations challenging the decision.

According to Sunday World, the NPA responded with news that Anele’s death would be revisited. They also claimed that the family “made representations” questioning their initial decision not to prosecute anyone following their inquest.

Speaking to The South African, Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick Van Wyk stated that the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Anele Tembe was never closed and is still active.

He said: “The matter is scheduled for a formal inquest at the Cape Town Magistrates’ court from 15 April 2024.”

The inquest is set to indicate whether any criminal offence occurred and if this is the reason for Tembe’s death.

Meanwhile, seven men are facing charges for the murder of AKA and friend Tebello Tibz Motsoane. 

Last month, the NPA alleged that Sydney Gcaba – from the notorious KwaZulu-Natal taxi boss family – transferred more than R800 00 to one of the men, deemed the “coordinator” of the hit.

The men will return to the Durban Magistrates Court for their bail application in May.