By Bahle Gama
Slain SA rapper Keirnan ‘AKA’ Forbes was laid to rest at Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg in a private funeral on Saturday.
This followed a public memorial service that was broadcast live and open to the public on Friday afternoon at Sandton Convention Center. No media or fans were allowed at the funeral.
His burial brought to an end a very emotional week for family, friends and industry peers who were still trying to come to terms with what transpired on February 10.
The rapper was scheduled to perform at Yugo nightclub in Durban as part of his birthday celebrations. At around 10 P.M. that night, Forbes and his friends, including Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane were standing outside Wish, a restaurant on Florida Road when a hooded gunman ran up to them and shot Forbes in the head, while his accomplice who was standing by Forbes’s car released more shots which killed Motsoane.
The two gunmen reportedly then fled the scene on foot. Forbes and Motsoane were pronounced dead at the scene. Motsoane was also laid to rest on Saturday.
In a statement, AKA’s family requested that they be given privacy specifically during AKA’s funeral arrangements hence the funeral being private, and no media allowed.
His memorial service was graced by different artists and dignitaries. It was MC’d by Nomuzi ‘Moozlie’ Mabena and Kabelo Mabalane opened in Prayer followed by Langa Mavuso who took to the stage as part of the ensemble of performing artist in tribute to the SA rapper.
Mavuso was followed by Sjava and Joyous celebration. AKA was reportedly paving his way into partnering with the SA gospel group Joyous Celebrations, which performed in his honour during the service.
Other artists paid tribute to AKA by sharing memories they had with Forbes and amongst many, Khuli Chana gave an outstanding performance that had everyone in attendance momentarily forgetting they were at a memorial service.
On the same day of his memorial service, AKA’s single ‘Company’ was released and is soon to be followed by the release of his full album Mass Country next week.
The single amassed hundreds of thousands in views on YouTube within a day of its release.
