The funeral service of Anele Tembe is underway at the Durban International Conference Centre.
Anele, who was fondly known as Nelli, was engaged to award-winning rapper AKA.
She died after she fell off a hotel building in Cape Town on Sunday, 11 April.
After that, the police in Cape Town have opened an inquest.
Speaking to a local publication, AKA’s publicist Pumza Nohashe said the rapper was doing well under the circumstances.
“He lost the love of his life, someone he had taken advanced steps, culturally, to spend the rest of his life with,” she said.
Following the tragic passing of their daughter, the Tembe’s have been hosting memorial services to pay tribute to her.
On Thursday, as her siblings spoke they could not hold back their tears.
Nelli’s sister Mbali said seeing Nelli’s body was hardest for her.
“Today we went to wash her. I tried to put make-up on her because she loved herself. She was a lady like that and what I saw was so painful,” she said.
Mbali reflected on how Nelli used to lure her into buying her sweets.
She said the last time she spoke to her was a Wednesday and she sounded content as she had plans.
“She had short-term and long-term plans, I don’t know what went wrong in between, but God knows,” she said.
Her other sister, Zama, also said bringing Nelli’s body home from Cape Town was the hardest thing she had ever done.
“Her untimely passing will have a long-lasting impact on me and I think all of us should take a page out of her book of life as she lived a full life filled with love, gentleness and honesty. It hurts that she’s gone.”
She further said it was difficult for her to accept that her little sister was gone forever.
“But it comforts me to know that she is at peace wherever she.
Anele I just want you to know that I love you, and sorry wherever we failed. I walk with you and I still feel your soul with me and I don’t know how I am ever going to recover from this,” she said.
Zama also thanked everyone who has been supporting them in this difficult period of their lives.
“I would like to thank you all for showing our family so much grace and compassion, kindness, and support, it doesn’t go unnoticed,” she added.
Meanwhile, her sister and actress Nondumiso Tembe, who is in the US, started off by apologizing that she could not make it and said she couldn’t wait to be with everyone soon.
She said Nelli was never someone who spoke about God a lot.
“But it comforts me that in her last days she had a connection with God as on her social media bio she wrote the Psalm 23 prayer, which our grandmother used to make us recite repeatedly.”
“As you know that after her fall for 30 minutes she was alive and the paramedics were trying to revive her. One of our grandmothers believes that she did not spend her last minutes in pain but connecting with God and that she is at peace,” said Nondumiso.
WATCH HER SERVICE BELOW:
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