AKA and Tibz murders: Six people arrested

Police said six people linked to the murders of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend, renowned chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, have been arrested.

BREAKING: SIX ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH AKA AND TIBZ MURDERS 

Police minister Bheki Cele said on Tuesday evening, six people have been arrested, and they will appear in court on Thursday.

[BREAKTHROUGH] Minister Cele assures South Africans that the thorough investigations by detectives who have cracked the #AKA murder case have arrested the right people. Six people have been arrested so far for the murder of the musician and his friend. pic.twitter.com/7sp7G0SIFR

— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) February 27, 2024

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said these six people had been arrested for the various roles that they played in the murders in AKA and Tibz. 

ALL SIX PLAYED SPECIFIC ROLES IN THE ASSASSINATION PLOT 

Here are the roles of the six arrested: 

• Coordinator – the master of everything
• Shooter one 
• Shooter two 
• Spotter (inside the restaurant)
• Spotter (outside the restaurant) 
• Organiser of firearms and vehicles.

Mkhwanazi said the investigation revealed that AKA was followed from the airport landing hours before his 10 February 2023 killing as part of an elaborate assassination plot.

AKA WAS FOLLOWED FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE RESTAURANT 

“The spotter initially followed Mr Forbes from the airport on arrival…to the hotel and the restaurant where the incident happened.” 

“This person [who followed AKA] was also responsible for hiring [and] gathering resources together, the whole team together, as well as the rewards that came thereafter when the people had done their jobs — that payments that were done,”- Mkhwanazi said. 

ALL SIX WERE PAID FOR THEIR PART IN THE CRIME 

Four of the six suspects have parallel cases that were investigated. Four are in the South Africa and two more are in Swaziland

Police Minister Bheki Cele said the oldest suspect was 36 and that all of the suspects had been paid for their part in the crime, adding that payment “wasn’t much.”

Last year, reports indicated that police were looking into suspects who are part of a ‘powerful and feared family’ in KZN, with links to the taxi industry and construction mafia.

The report alleges police are also investigating close associates of AKA, after his murder outside Wish restaurant on Florida Road in Durban in February.

AKA AND TIBZ WERE SHOT AND KILLED IN FEBRUARY 2023

Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, AKA’s friend and a celebrity chef, was also shot dead during the incident.

Sources in the security cluster told the media last year that AKA and Motsoane were followed from King Shaka International Airport to the Wish on Florida restaurant.

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