Businessman Moses Tembe has rubbished a 2020 report that his daughter Anele Tembe wanted to throw herself off the ledge of the Hilton Hotel in Durban in a suicide attempt.
He’s even gone as far as claiming his late daughter was “talented and dramatic.”
The incident took place less than six months before Anele fell to her death off the tenth floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town on 11 April 2021. Moments before the fatal fall, the young woman had had an explosive argument with her partner, fiancé AKA or Kiernan Forbes.
Tragically, AKA died two years later in an alleged assassination in Durban.
ANELE TEMBE’S FATHER RUBBISHES HILTON HOTEL INCIDENT
In December 2020, Anele Tembe made headlines after she attempted to jump off the top of the 19-storey Hilton Hotel.
According to TimesLive, Anele had stood on the ledge of the top floor in the early morning. An unidentified female cousin reportedly tried to talk her off the ledge.
The publication claimed that Anele was “highly aggressive” when approached by authorities. Eventually, she was distracted and pulled off the ledge.
The 22-year-old was later taken to a nearby medical centre for treatment. She would also undergo counselling at the Akeso Umhlanga clinic, a psychiatric hospital for people with mental health issues.
Speaking in an interview with author Melinda Ferguson in her book When Love Kills: The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele, Moses Tembe rubbished reports that his daughter wanted to jump off the Hilton Hotel.
He said: “I don’t know what led to her standing up there. It was not something that my daughter would have done. I do not believe Anele was going to jump. My daughter loved herself so much. Anele was a very dramatic girl. She loved attention”.
anele tembe, AKA, suicide
Anele Tembe reportedly attempted suicide on the ledge of the Hilton Hotel in December 2020. Images via X: @clrd_the
WHAT HAPPENED MOMENTS BEFORE?
According to Melinda Ferguson, Anele Tembe ha stormed the Hilton in Durban on the morning of 11 December 2020 to look for AKA, who had been a guest of the five-star hotel.
AKA had attended the launch of his restaurant and bar, Cuba BLK, just a day earlier, claimed IOL.
After she was unable to locate him, Anele allegedly took the lift up to the 19th floor, where she climbed the ledge and threatened to jump.
According to the author, Anele suspected AKA of cheating on her and hoped to confront him.
SMS BETWEEN AKA AND MOSES
Following her death, Sunday World posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between Anele Tembe’s father, Moses an AKA, in which they refer to the couple’s regular explosive fights.
The conversations reportedly took place on 9 March 2021.
In it, Moses claimed that Anele would face a “family trial” for her actions. If “found guilty,” she would be “fired from the family home.”
Addressing AKA, he messaged: “When Anele was younger, she passed all auditions for acting roles…Want you to understand she is talented and dramatic. Actress to the core…she can dramatise anything”.
AKA thanked Moses for his seeming support in his response, adding: “I will ride the storm out and quietly hope she calms down and engages me properly.”
He added: “I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid in the interim.”