The South African Police has revealed that Rapper AKA was assassinated while the statement for the Rapper’s funeral arrangements, Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes, have been released by his family.
Recall that the South African rapper was shot dead in a drive-by shooting on Florida Road on Friday night.
KwaZulu-Natal police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said the gunman had approached AKA from behind and shot him at close range in the side of the head.
While police work to establish a full picture of what happened to AKA, whose real name was Kiernan Forbes, his father has asked people to stop speculating on social media.
Tony Forbes says the family are focusing on giving their son “a dignified send-off”, and he has thanked the many well-wishers whose support is “making it easier to cope”.
But police say they know the identities of the “two shooters”, and are still checking the identities of all of those at the scene in Durban that night.
Investigators are now using the suspects’ data to piece together their communication and movements in the run-up to the killings, Gen Mkhwanazi has told the Newzroom Africa TV channel.
“We know that the aim was to first kill AKA, and the second suspect could have killed any other [person] because they fired a couple of shots – so anybody who was on the way could have been hit,” he says.
AKA will be laid to rest in a private provincial funeral on Saturday, February 18 and his memorial service will take place on Friday, February 17 at the Sandton Convention Centre at 3 pm, the family said in a statement released on AKA’s Instagram account on Tuesday,
The statement reads, “Memorial and funeral details of Kiernan ‘Aka’ jarryd Forbes.
“We as the Forbes family would like to acknowledge the outpouring of love we have received over the past few days. Kiernan wasn’t just loved by us as a family, but by the nation, as we’ve seen from loved ones, friends, industry colleagues, media tributes and the legacy.
“It is our wish to celebrate the life of Kiernan with those he touched and impacted through his gift of music. His memorial will therefore be open to the public as well as streamed online.
“Memorial details include, Date: Friday, 17 February 2023, Time: 15:00 Location: Santon Convention Center.
“Limited tickets will be available on webtickets; the memorial will also be live streamed on the Akaworldwide youtube page.
“We’d also like to acknowledge our extended family, the Mohosanas for their unwavering support during this time, as Bongani Mahosana will be in absentia at the memorial and funeral due to observing cultural protocol.
“Tony forbes, kiernan’s father has been appointed as the official family spokesperson and will be giving a public statement to media today at 3pm.”
