Nomonde Zondi|Published
The realisation that gunfire outside Wish restaurant on Durban’s Florida Road had claimed the life of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes sparked hysteria among the rapper’s friends and entourage, who also watched his friend, chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, fight for his life.
This was the grim picture painted by AKA’s photographer, Thotloetso Kutlwano Mogotsi, known as TK, during his testimony at the Durban High Court on Wednesday morning.
Mogotsi told the court that after the shooting, they went outside the restaurant, where they found AKA lying on the ground.
“That is when we saw that AKA had been hit and there was no bodily movement,” he testified.
Mogotsi said what followed was an emotionally charged scene as those around AKA grappled with what had happened while witnessing Tibz’s condition deteriorate.
“He was bleeding outside of his mouth, he was bleeding out of his abdomen and by the time he had enough power to push himself up against the wall to sit that is when we started seeing a lot of loss of his blood,” Mogotsi said.
Previous witnesses who were part of AKA’s entourage on February 10, 2023, when the rapper was in Durban for a performance at Yugo Club, testified that Tibz crawled after being shot. Paramedics attempted to resuscitate him before he was declared dead.
Mogotsi told the court that AKA was declared dead as soon as the ambulance arrived at the scene.
Seven men — Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Mkhwanazi, Malusi Dave Ndimande and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande — are on trial for the murders of AKA and Tibz.
Mogotsi also described what he experienced when the shooting began.
He said the group had been standing outside Wish, preparing to return to the Hilton Hotel in Umhlanga, where they were staying, when he felt a sensation of heat on the left side of his body as he heard a loud bang.
“I equated the sound to fireworks,” he testified.
He said the bang came shortly after AKA and Tibz had embraced each other.
Mogotsi further revealed that shortly before the two friends embraced, AKA had seen someone from his past whom he was trying to avoid being seen by.
Meanwhile, two more witnesses are expected to testify in the trial. However, senior State advocate Elvis Gcweka applied for their identities to be withheld from the public.
Gcweka told the court that although the witnesses were at the court building, they feared for their lives and had expressed discomfort about testifying in open court because of the high-profile nature of the case.
He added that the witnesses were under heavy guard.
The trial continues.
nomonde.zondi@iol.co.za