AKA’s dad has taken on a women’s movement who calling for his music to be muted, while the rapper has decided to halt his live shows for now.
AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes, is grieving the loss of fiancée Anele “Nelli” Tembe, 22, who fell from the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel last month.
The 33-year-old pulled out of the virtual Huawei Joburg Day with 947 on 28 May.
NPO Women For Change – which piggybacks on Catch Me If You Can, a movement raising awareness of GBV – has called for AKA’s music to be pulled from radio and streaming services after videos were leaked of an altercation with Nelli.
Women For Change posted a picture on Instagram on Monday “demanding [AKA’s music be muted] with immediate effect”.
They added: “It is overdue to show South Africa once and for all that women matter! We want justice for Nellie!”
AKA’s dad, Tony, challenged the NGO in the comments section, saying: “You want to mute him so that you don’t have to listen to the other side of the story?
“You want to take away a man’s bread and butter on the basis of an unnamed source who sent images showing him breaking down a door, nothing more? Have you actually engaged the verifiable facts?
“Does your justice for women include the principles of transparency, the truth, process and fairness?
“If so, fight first to hear all the facts on both sides. Demand that before you condemn him.
“No one is hiding here or running away. Demand it from the tabloids.
“If you do not subscribe to the principles mentioned, what differentiates you from a vigilante group?
“And is this really the change for women in South Africa you are after?”
Over the weekend, AKA issued a statement, insisting he’s not a murder suspect but admitted their relationship was “challenging”.
This after videos circulated online, one in which he is seen breaking down a door into the bedroom of the couple’s Bryanston apartment where Nelli was hiding.