Anele Tembe Inquest: Police Witness Says AKA Appeared ‘Fine’ After Fatal Fall
CAPE TOWN: A police officer has told the Anele Tembe inquest that Kiernan “AKA” Forbes appeared composed and did not look visibly distressed when police encountered him after his fiancée’s fatal fall from Cape Town’s Pepperclub Hotel.
The testimony was heard in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday during the first day of the formal inquest into the 22-year-old’s death.
The officer, whose identity is protected by a court order, was among the police personnel who responded to the hotel on 11 April 2021.
According to his testimony, Forbes was in room 105, next to the room he and Tembe had occupied, when officers encountered him with members of his entourage.
‘He looked quite fine’
The officer was questioned about Forbes’s emotional state after Tembe’s fall.
He testified that Forbes appeared composed and did not appear visibly sad.
“He didn’t look sad,” the officer told the court, describing Forbes as appearing “quite fine”.
The testimony provides the court with the officer’s personal observation of Forbes when police arrived. It does not establish Forbes’s actual emotional state or what had happened inside the hotel room before Tembe fell.
Police say they could smell alcohol
The officer also testified that police could smell alcohol on Forbes.
However, he could not establish when Forbes had consumed alcohol.
The witness said officers could not determine whether the smell resulted from drinking the previous night, immediately before the incident or afterwards.
The evidence therefore does not establish Forbes’s level of intoxication at the time Tembe fell.
Officer cautions against conclusions about grief
Importantly, the police witness himself cautioned the court against drawing conclusions from Forbes’s outward demeanour.
The officer acknowledged that people respond differently when someone close to them dies.
Some people cry, while others remain quiet or show little outward emotion.
His evidence therefore should not be interpreted as proof of guilt, innocence or involvement in Tembe’s death.
That distinction is particularly important because Forbes is deceased and cannot testify or respond to the evidence being presented about him.
AKA told police about argument
The court also heard evidence about what Forbes told police following Tembe’s fall.
According to the officer, Forbes said he and Tembe had argued earlier that morning and that she had threatened to jump from the balcony.
Forbes allegedly told police that he did not believe Tembe would actually jump because she had previously threatened to do so during an incident in Durban but had not gone through with it.
Forbes said he contacted hotel security after Tembe went onto the balcony.
A Pepperclub employee separately testified that she received a call from a panicked man asking for security because someone was standing on the balcony.
She said she recognised Forbes’s voice because he had previously stayed at the hotel. While she was still dealing with the call, she heard a scream followed by a loud bang.
Police describe hotel room
The officer also testified about what police encountered inside room 104.
He described the room as disorganised and said officers observed apparent bloodstains.
The investigating officer separately testified that blood was found on a champagne bottle, towels, bedding and a wall near the bathroom.
Those findings form part of the physical evidence being considered by the inquest.
The presence of blood does not by itself establish how it got there or whether it was connected to Tembe’s fatal fall.
Inquest examining circumstances of Tembe’s death
Tembe died on 11 April 2021 after falling from the tenth floor of the Pepperclub Hotel.
She was 22 and engaged to Forbes at the time.
Monday’s opening proceedings heard evidence from six witnesses, including two police officers, a hotel manager, a nearby resident, a businessperson who provided video footage to police and a hotel employee.
The inquest is examining when and how Tembe died and whether her death resulted from the negligence or unlawful conduct of another person.
No finding has been made that Forbes or anyone else was responsible for Tembe’s death.
Forbes was murdered in Durban in February 2023 and cannot give evidence or be cross-examined during the proceedings.
The Anele Tembe inquest continues in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
