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A post the late rapper AKA shared on social media after Anele Tembe’s death has resurfaced online, reigniting anger and suspicion around one of South Africa’s most controversial tragedies.
The resurfaced post — an Instagram story shared just days after Tembe’s fatal fall in 2021 — shows the rapper smoking alone in a deserted field. What shocked many was not the image itself, but the song he chose to accompany it: “P*ss On Your Grave” by Travis Scott.
The title alone sparked outrage. For many, it felt like an act of mockery rather than mourning — a tone-deaf gesture from a man whose fiancée had just died under deeply mysterious circumstances.
Now, with Tembe’s case back in the headlines following new evidence and comments from former police minister Bheki Cele, the post has once again become a symbol of unanswered questions surrounding her death and AKA’s role in it.
Tembe, 22, died on 10 April 2021, after falling from the tenth floor of the Pepper Club Hotel in Cape Town. She was engaged to Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, who was in the room with her before she fell. Police ruled the case as a suicide at the time — but her family has never accepted that explanation.
In a leaked legal letter earlier this year, the Tembe family’s lawyers accused Forbes of assaulting Anele and then pushing her off the balcony. They claim police ignored critical evidence, including blood stains in the hotel room, defensive scratches on Forbes’s back, and testimony from another guest who heard Anele scream “leave me alone” before she fell.
The family’s push for answers resurfaced after Cele told Parliament’s Ad-hoc Committee on Police Oversight that he personally believed Anele was murdered. His remarks have reignited calls for a reinvestigation and for the National Prosecuting Authority to reopen the case.
Against this backdrop, the resurfaced post has reopened wounds and suspicions long thought buried.
“This post was suspicious, man,” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter). “He was begging for it, and they gave it to him,” said another, referring to Forbes’s own death two years later.
AKA was gunned down outside a Durban restaurant on 10 February 2023, in what police have since described as a “highly coordinated hit.” While several arrests have been made, the motive behind the killing remains unclear — though many online continue to speculate it was revenge for Tembe’s death.
“This was the day he sealed his fate,” one comment read. “He posted that song and they never forgot.”
Others echoed the sentiment. “Five years later and this post still feels insane,” one user wrote. “That’s when I knew something bad was coming for him.”
The rapper’s supporters have pushed back, insisting the post was taken out of context. They argue it was not about Tembe at all — just a random song choice at a time when Forbes was under intense scrutiny.
But critics say timing matters. “Even if he didn’t mean it like that, it showed no respect,” said a social media analyst who has followed the case since 2021. “You can’t share a song like that right after your fiancée dies tragically. People read symbolism into everything — and he should have known that.”
Public opinion on the case has always been divided. To some, AKA was a grieving man crushed by guilt and loss. To others, he was a man hiding something — protected by fame and privilege.
Adding to the complexity, music executive Nota Baloyi recently claimed that AKA and Anele were married under customary law, deepening the personal and legal ties between them. Baloyi has also publicly defended the rapper, calling out what he described as “political manipulation” of the case.
He slammed Cele’s remarks as “reckless,” accusing the former minister of trying to score points by implicating a man who can no longer defend himself.
Still, many South Africans have not forgotten the disturbing details that surfaced in the months after Tembe’s death — or the violent footage of Forbes breaking down hotel doors and screaming her name shortly before she fell.
In leaked videos, he appeared distraught, but critics claimed it was too late — that whatever happened inside that hotel room had already escalated beyond control.
As the story resurfaces, new light is being cast on the rapper’s online behaviour after her death. His series of cryptic posts — ranging from grief to defiance — painted a picture that few could fully interpret.
The Travis Scott post, however, remains the most infamous. For many, it became a metaphor for a relationship that ended not only in tragedy, but in unresolved anger.
“He didn’t care, not even a little,” one comment read. “That was pure disrespect.”
Tembe’s family has continued their legal fight for access to the full police docket, saying they believe crucial evidence was withheld by prosecutors. They allege that their daughter’s death was never properly investigated because of Forbes’s celebrity status and influence.
The renewed focus on the case has drawn both sympathy and suspicion. Some see the Tembe family’s pursuit of justice as long overdue. Others accuse them of trying to rewrite history now that Forbes himself is dead.
Yet, what remains undeniable is that two young lives — both full of promise — ended violently and without closure.
As debates rage online, the resurfaced post stands as a chilling reminder of how social media can both reveal and distort truth. It’s a digital snapshot frozen in time — one that continues to haunt fans and critics alike.
More than four years later, South Africa is still asking the same questions: what really happened inside that hotel room, and what did that post truly mean?
For now, there are no clear answers — only a growing sense that behind every tragedy, there are echoes that never quite fade.
