Rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes – who was engaged to Anele “Nellie” Tembe says it’s been a daily struggle for him and that his Sunday mornings have changed forever since her passing.
“It still feels like that day. My life has changed forever.”
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Businessman and rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes remembers his late fiancée Anele ‘Nellie’ Tembe – who passed on 10 April 2021.
Today marks a year since Tembe fell to her death from the 10th floor of the Pepper Club Hotel in Cape Town.
The rapper tells a local publication that it’s been a daily struggle for him since her passing and that he was depressed and had to go to therapy.
Kiernan Forbes was with Tembe in the hotel on the morning of her death.
“My mother stepped in and sought the services of both a grief counsellor and a therapist. At first, it was depressing to even make the effort to speak to them, but, in time, I got into it, and it has been a huge change and a saving grace in my life. I now consciously make more time for family.
He adds that his daughter – Kairo Forbes has been his strength and sanity and that he also has his dog, Mr Louis, who in some way is like a friend to him.
“In those dark times, it’s just me and him at the house and he pulls me through with a nudge or just knowing when to snug up to me in a low moment.”
“It is a daily struggle. I still get anxious at times. My first trip back to Cape Town, for my grandmother’s funeral last year, was a huge breakdown moment for me … so much was going through my mind.”
The rapper adds that he had to put his rap career on hold by cancelling music gigs and public appearances in 2021 so that he can grieve.
“Grief is a process with no timeline or expiration date. Through therapy, I have come to learn that it never goes away, it just gets better with time.”
“Yet at any moment you can find yourself right back at the bottom.”
“I surrender myself completely to it. This period of grief and depression also led me to dig deep, to explore my inner feelings,” the rapper said.
Forbes also made headlines when videos of him physically abusing the late Tembe surfaced which he says also caused a strain in relations between his family and hers.
“With Anele’s passing, so many things happened and the newly formed relationships were affected, even those that I needed in those early days.”
“When I left the Tembe home, a day after her funeral, I left an open door … I will forever see them as my family and I regret that we were unable to go through the mourning and healing process together. They will forever be in my prayers.”
His lawyer Rudolph Baloyi says they’d not been told of any developments into Tembe’s death:
“We have never received a formal update, apart from requests for statements in the first half of last year.”
Tembe’s father Moses also told the publication that they had not received any updates on the investigation into his daughter’s passing.
“For us, we have faith in the effectiveness of the SA Police Service. “
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