CAPE TOWN - Loud screams followed by a loud bang. That is what witnesses at the inquest into the death of Anele Tembe described hearing in the final moments before her fatal fall.
The inquest, being heard in the Cape Town Magistrates Court, has been postponed to 19 October.
One of the witnesses who took the stand on Wednesday was a guest at the Pepperclub Hotel when the incident happened. He recalled the events of that day.
Twenty-two-year-old Tembe plunged to her death from the 10th floor of the hotel on 11 April 2021.
The witness, who said he frequently stayed at the hotel, returned at about 11pm the night before the incident and saw Tembe’s fiancé, late rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, with a male friend on the balcony.
“At around 7am, I heard the voice of a lady screaming, and soon after, I heard a loud bang,” the witness said.
“I thought it was a car accident. I leaned over the balcony, and I saw a young lady on the floor.”
The witness said he initially thought it could have been a photo shoot, but that thought soon disappeared when he heard a man screaming.
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“I then saw Mr Forbes on the balcony, and he was screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God’. He noticed that I saw him, and I then signalled to him that I would call an ambulance,” the witness told the court.
Asked by the Tembe family’s lawyer whether he had heard any arguments before the screams and bang, the witness said he had not, as he had been wearing earphones.
He said he then went inside, called an ambulance and explained to the operator what had happened.
Another witness also testified that she heard a woman’s voice saying, “Don’t touch me, get away from me.”
“I didn’t know where it was coming from,” the witness said.
“About 15 minutes later, that’s when I heard a loud bang. I went to the balcony, and that’s when I heard a man screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God’.”
The woman was also a guest at the hotel.
When she went outside to see what had happened, she said she could not see anything because her view was blocked by a tree.
A hotel employee also testified about a brief interaction with Forbes after the incident. He recalled going into the room, where members of Forbes’ team told him they were ordering alcohol.
“I instructed the team not to give them alcohol after what had happened. They were not happy about that decision, but that was the final decision,” the hotel staffer testified.
Read more: Anele Tembe inquest: Witness details AKA's reaction after her fall