Tony Forbes isn’t sure the full truth about his son’s killing will ever come out. That was the striking admission from AKA’s father as the murder trial finally got underway at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Monday, October 5.
Seven men stand accused of carrying out the coordinated hit that killed the South African rapper outside a restaurant on Florida Road in February 2023.
For the Forbes family, the start of the trial lands somewhere between relief and reopening wounds that never really closed.
“The trauma is still there,” Forbes told reporters, according to eNCA. “It’s the first day and I am preparing myself for what could be another marathon.”
He was clear that speed isn’t what the family wants. “I don’t think it will be over quickly because it has to be done properly,” he said. “It’s not going to bring Kiernan or Tibz back if it goes fast. It must be done properly.”
Kiernan Forbes was one of the biggest names South African hip hop has produced, with albums like Levels and Touch My Blood making him a household name across the continent.
His death shocked fans at home and abroad, and his album Mass Country arrived just weeks after the shooting, turning its release into a moment of collective mourning.
The State’s case is a heavy one. Among the seven accused are brothers Siyabonga and Malusi Ndimande, who spent months fighting their extradition from Eswatini before being brought back to face the charges.
The suspects face conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of murder, attempted murder and firearms offences. Prosecutors plan to call at least 45 witnesses, and the trial is expected to run for months.
If convicted, the accused could face life sentences for the murders. Conspiracy to commit murder carries up to 25 years, with further time possible on the attempted murder and weapons charges.
What still hasn’t been answered publicly is the motive. Authorities believe AKA was the intended target and that his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane was caught in the gunfire, but nobody has laid out why someone wanted the rapper dead.
Fans have spent nearly three years filling that silence with theories. Forbes, for his part, says chasing the why right now doesn’t help anyone.
“It’s pointless,” he said. “We’ve got to go through the process. I’m not even sure that the why will come out.”
He went further, describing the people in the dock as only one layer of the story. “For me, this is just the bottom of the pyramid, and we may never get there to understand the why and who,” he said.
That view sits in tension with what many fans want from this trial, which is a full account of who ordered the hit and what drove it.
The prosecution’s case will be measured against both expectations: securing convictions for the men accused, and possibly pointing toward whoever sat above them.
With 45 witnesses still to be heard, the courtroom in Durban is only at the start of what Forbes himself called a marathon.
