“AKA was a patriot. The least South Africa can do for him is to ensure that his murderers are put behind bars” this was according to AKA’s The Megacy Letter to Cyril Rampahosa which expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in this case. Read full open letter below;
“Attention President Ramaphosa
Mr President, we are fans of the late South African artist Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, commercially known as AKA and we are called the Megacy. AKA and his friend Tebello Motsoane were murdered in Durban on the 10th of February this year. We are writing to you to register our concern at the way the police are handling this particular murder case and crime in general.
Mr President, the murder of AKA was fully captured on CCTV and there were many witnesses, yet, over 6 weeks later, the police have not made any arrests. The fact that there is a satellite police station right next to the restaurant at which the two were murdered and that the murderers can be seen on CCTV running past that station after the murders, is an indictment on the police.
According to the latest data, about 82 people are murdered in South Africa everyday. That means since AKA’s murder, about 3444 people have been murdered in South Africa. Mr President, if the police are not able to solve a murder case captured on CCTV, what hope is there that they will be able to solve all these murders most of which do not have readily available leads or evidence as the AKA one?
In the past twelve months, we have witnessed many tavern shootings, celebrity assassinations, sharp rise in the number of missing persons, and, daily, body bags are shown on the news.
It is against this backdrop Mr President that we find it not only strange but bizarre that the police minister, Mr Bheki Cele, retained his post in your recent cabinet reshuffle.
Can you, with conviction, say you are satisfied with the performance of the Police Minister?
About 82 people murdered everyday Mr President. Does this number not move you to want to do something that assures us that you care about our safety and security?
Just last week we all saw what the state is capable of during the Shutdown of the 20th of March. Why does such demonstration of strength and preparedness only happen when state power is threatened by protests and not for the everyday safety and security of the people of South Africa?
Mr President, AKA was not just an artist, he was a patriot. He cared deeply about South Africa, and performed, almost always, with the South African flag around his mic. The least South Africa can do for him right now is to ensure that his murderers are put behind bars.
We demand justice for AKA. We need assurance from the police that they are indeed working on this case and that substantive progress has been made thus far.
We hope you will attend to this matter urgently and grant us the answers we desperately seek. With the utmost respect, we demand answers and justice for all our fallen heroes.
Sincerely, The Megacy”
