A LOT has been said and speculated since the release of the book When Love Kills- The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele.
Author Melinda Ferguson has been fielding fires from both worlds- both families of AKA, Tembe and the public.
But as she alluded “the book had to be written” to find out exactly what really happened.
“I don’t think people understand what it is to write a book. It takes a huge amount of effort and time. The amount of insanity in the leak of the cover of When Love Kills took me by surprise.
“While I got love and support, I also got tagged on social media with a lot of hate and even death threats from people saying they were coming for me. ‘You better get bodyguards’. I even got tagged on the Gcaba taxi page, where someone said, ‘You should take care of this woman’.
To such an extent the Forbes family issuing a media response to the book: “We are not in any way associated with Melinda Ferguson’s book,” it said. “We do, however, find the intended publication of the book and the timing distasteful and opportunistic.”
Her tome delves into their relationship, drama, alleged drugs, infighting, infertility (some of my sources within music industry did confirm) and, of course their untimely deaths.
Anele was (22) and was engaged to AKA, fell to her death from the 10th floor of the Cape Town hotel, The Pepper Club, in April 2021.
Nobody was charged for her death, but her father, Moses Tembe, spoke to the SABC this past weekend, saying that he suspected foul play in his daughter’s death.
NPA’s boss Shamila Batohi confirmed yesterday the case is still under investigation.
Talking to The Citizen, Melinda said: “I am someone who’s drawn to dark stories, and as soon as there’s a toxic element to something, I’m drawn almost like a magnet to it.
“I’ve been through my own dark journey, and the moment that I learned that Anele had ‘fallen’, I wanted to know what had happened in that room.
“My heart broke for this young girl. I asked myself: what were they doing at that time of the morning? At 7am? I highly suspected drugs and alcohol had been involved. I always liked AKA’s music, but over time I think fame got to him and he got carried away by his celebrity. I wondered what had gone on behind closed doors. Just like everybody else, I followed the story closely.”
While watching the story of Anele’s death unravel, Melinda was alerted to videos and pictures of the couple’s altercations doing the rounds on social media.
“A few weeks later, the videos came out, and I was enraged as a woman by what looked like abuse to me, and so I became more involved in the story. Then Kiernan was killed. This was a huge tragedy, and as a journalist, I couldn’t help but want to write about it.
“I have never worked harder on a book. I went down a rabbit hole of research, reading everything I could about the couple, speaking to people, and going on his social media.
“I feel very sorry for the Forbes, for their loss, for his fans, and for the senseless loss of Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane and his family. No family deserves to bury their child, no matter the circumstances, but I stand by my book and believe this story needs to be told. I did the work. I interviewed people from both sides.”
“While writing the book I heard her voice screaming in my dreams, and I wanted to remind people of her life. We have to have these difficult conversations.”
She did also spoke to the father, after speculations that she did not.
“I spoke to Moses Tembe and I spoke to people close to Kiernan, but most of those people didn’t want to be named. People are scared because AKA was assassinated, and people are reluctant to be identified. While they might have told me unflattering things, nobody wanted to look like they were betraying AKA.
“Moses was a father in grief and I spent valuable time with him as he walked through painful memories. I also use a lot of Kiernan’s words when he describes what happened the night Anele died; he’s very alive in the book. My real struggle was getting information about Anele.
“I relied on Moses and people who knew her for a character profile, as she had no voice and very little social media presence. She lost her life at a time when she was just about to start living.”
AKA was killed in execution style outside WISH restaurant on February 10, 2023, in Durban, alongside his celebrity Chef friend “Tibz”.
As a result, seven suspects have been arrested and are appearing in court, KZN, in relation to both murder charges.
Melinda is known for having published Inside the Belly of the Beast: The Real Bosasa Story and the Oscar Pistorius story, Oscar: An Accident Waiting to Happen.
The author has ruffled the feathers by releasing the book- but the truth shall remain, irrespective of public opinions.
Image (Love, according to AKA and Anele that turned nasty and cruel as both lovers are no more).
