Conflicting accounts about what happened in the moments before Anele Tembe’s fatal fall emerged today as three more witnesses testified in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, with the inquest now postponed until 19 October.
The latest testimony brings the number of witnesses heard since the inquest opened on Monday to eight.
Among those who testified was the general manager and director of the Pepperclub Hotel, where Tembe and her fiancé, the late rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, were staying when she fell from the 10th floor on 11 April 2021.
The manager told the court that he was alerted that someone had fallen from the building and subsequently became involved in the hotel’s response to the incident. He testified that, after Tembe’s fall, Forbes and members of his entourage ordered alcohol from the hotel.
The manager said he instructed staff not to fulfil the order because he considered it inappropriate given what had happened. Forbes was unhappy with the decision but did not become upset. The court further heard that the order included tequila and shooters.
A hotel guest also testified about the alcohol order, saying she overheard a waiter repeating the request while she was having breakfast.
She said the order came from the room where Forbes and his friends were staying. The evidence was presented as part of the court’s examination of what happened in the period immediately after Tembe’s fall. The court also heard further evidence about what witnesses heard before the fall.
A hotel guest said he woke at about 7.30am after hearing a woman scream, followed by a loud bang. He initially thought the sound was caused by a car accident.
When he looked outside, he saw Tembe lying on the ground. He then saw Forbes emerge onto a nearby balcony and look down. The witness said Forbes was shouting: “Oh my God! Oh my God!”. He indicated that he would call an ambulance.
However, the witness said he did not hear a heated argument between a man and a woman before the fall. He acknowledged that he might have been asleep and therefore could not completely rule out the possibility of an argument.
His evidence differs from that of another witness who told the court that he heard what sounded like an argument before the fall.
Another hotel guest, who was staying on the 15th floor, gave evidence that she heard a woman shouting: “Get away from me! Don’t touch me!”. That was followed by a loud bang. She went to her balcony to investigate and heard a man shouting: “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
The different accounts have added another layer of uncertainty as the court attempts to reconstruct the events surrounding Tembe’s death. The witnesses were in different parts of the hotel and were describing what they heard and saw from their respective positions. Their evidence will have to be considered alongside the physical and other evidence placed before the court.
The proceedings have produced several accounts of the events surrounding the fall. Earlier evidence included testimony about a frantic call to hotel staff shortly before Tembe fell, while Wednesday’s proceedings focused, in part, on what happened after the fall and on differing accounts of what witnesses heard beforehand.
The court has postponed the inquest until 19 October 2026, when further witnesses are expected to testify. The postponement leaves the central questions surrounding Tembe’s death unresolved.
The court must establish what happened inside the hotel room before her fall, what led to her being on the balcony and whether the evidence points to an unlawful act, negligence or another explanation for her death.
For now, the testimony heard this week forms part of a broader reconstruction of Tembe’s final hours, one in which witnesses have provided accounts that do not always align.