Police making ‘significant’ progress in AKA murder investigation, says Cele

By Unathi Nkanjeni | TshisaLive |

South African Police minister Bheki Cele says there has been “significant” progress in the investigation into the murder of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes.

AKA and his lifelong friend and celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were fatally shot at a popular restaurant in Durban on February 10. They were buried in private funerals.

Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, Cele said he was satisfied police were hard at work investigating the case and had some leads to follow.

“The investigation is going on. They [police in the province] are following some directions.

“There is progress in the case. It seems to be significant [progress],” he said.

Cele said there is no timeline for when police will make an announcement about possible arrests.

“Sometimes it is OK to be thorough before you act in these cases, because it is no use to rush and you find your case does not see the light of the day when it goes to court.

“We will brief the family rather than tell the media what has been done,” he said.

Last week during the presentation of the quarterly crime stats, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said details of the investigation would only be addressed with the family. He said a few people had been interviewed.

“South Africans know we can’t discuss in detail cases we are investigating, especially because the only people who are supposed to get feedback are the families of the deceased. We can’t tell them through the media what is happening with our investigations.

“We have not arrested anyone yet. We have, however, interviewed a number of people in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng,” said Mkhwanazi.

“We have obtained statements and we have collected cellphones. We have collected videos from CCTV cameras and we have received the ballistic report from forensics,” he said.

“Viewing of the videos is continuing, and the downloading of cellphones and the analysis of material are continuing. We are putting evidence together to have a solid case.

“The identification of those seen on videos on social media is something we cannot disclose, but we have an idea who those people might be.”