Scores sign petition demanding justice for AKA
South Africans are tired of unsolved murders...
Close to 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for justice for Kiernan 'AKA' Forbes. The rapper was gunned down in Durban last month after having dinner with friends at a restaurant on Florida Roda.
His close friend, celebrity chef Tebello 'Tibz' Motsoane, was also killed when two gunmen opened fire on the group at around 10pm on February 10.
Police confirmed that AKA's death was an assassination. AKA's murder was captured on CCTV footage. He died instantly after being shot in the head at point-blank range.
No arrests have been made.
A woman named Lelo N has started a petition on change.org demanding answers as South Africans are tired of unsolved murders.
"[On] the very same street, Florida Road, in Morningside, Durban, is a mobile cop shop. What happened to those cops? What did they do?" the woman asks.
AKA's murder happened a few metres from a mobile police station (kiosk).
"If a well-known celebrated person like AKA could be so carelessly and easily assassinated in front of cops, the public and a number of witnesses, what chance do we stand as ordinary citizens? Who are YOU?" Lelo asks in her petition.
Over 9,500 sign petition
A total of 9,586 had signed the petition by Wednesday, February 8.
"I am starting this petition in the hopes that there are more South Africans, who are tired of unsolved murders; tired of living in a murder capital, where the police work hand in hand with the criminals," Lelo wrote.
The AKA fan says her heart goes out to his daughter, Kairo Forbes, who will now grow up without a father. Lelo adds that her family experienced a similar incident.
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She says her father was shot several times when a hitman walked into a house and opened fire.
"Unlike AKA, my father had to go through the excruciating pain of knowing what was happening to him. Bleeding, and perhaps losing air, he tried to flee to one of the other rooms in the house, as the hitmen followed him. He shot through the door of one of the rooms that my father had run into when trying to call an unresponsive emergency number. The hitmen went in and shot."
Her father survived the shooting but became a quadriplegic. He died of renal failure three years later, without getting justice. His attacker is still on the loose.
"He died a very sad man who never knew justice."
Murder investigation
Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele said this week that SAPS is cracking the case and is currently reviewing data from cellphones that were collected after the shooting.
"It is a matter that we can't lay to rest. Unfortunately, we can't give you [a] blow-by-blow of what is happening, but the progress is absolutely there... we have collected a lot of cellphones we are working [on] and downloading… trying to piece and knit things together," News24 quoted him as saying at an imbizo in Westbury, Johhanesburg.
Lelo, like many South Africans, has lost faith in Cele and his department.
"Police Minister Bheki Cele, we don’t even care what you say at this point, in most of our eyes you are the opposite of useful. Always making noise, attending crime scenes all dressed up in your hat making all kinds of promises," she wrote in her petition.
View the petition here.
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AKA's mother, Lynn Forbes, and the rest of his family are determined to keep his legacy alive for his daughter.
"I continue, to humbly request, that you help our family create the memories that will fill the future gaps for Kairo, by sharing your stories and personal experiences about her dad, her hero, on social media or anywhere possible …. where in future, when she has access to the social media platforms, she will experience him through your stories and your outpour of love," she wrote on Instagram.
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Main image credit: Instagram/@lynnforbesza, @kairo.forbes