The author of the book, When Love Kills – The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele, says she has received death threats since the book cover was leaked on social media.
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Melinda Ferguson, who is also the author of Inside the Belly of the Beast: The Real Bosasa Story and the Oscar Pistorius story, Oscar: An Accident Waiting to Happen, says she didn’t rely on ‘anyone’s blessing when writing the book’.
‘As a journalist, it is not key to get the blessing of the families but rather to tell the story as truthfully as possible. While I encouraged participation from all parties, I wasn’t relying on getting anyone’s blessing when writing the book,’ she told The Citizen in an exclusive interview.
She adds that while she got love and support in response to the book cover, she also received a lot of hate and even death threats. ‘While I got love and support, I also got tagged on social media with a lot of hate and even death threats from people saying they were coming for me. “You better get bodyguards”. I even got tagged on the Gcaba taxi page, where someone said, “You should take care of this woman”.’
When Love Kills depicts the tale of AKA and Anele, including their relationship and their untimely deaths.
Anele Tembe, AKA’s fiance, fell to her death from the tenth floor of The Pepper Club in Cape Town in 2021. She was 22 years old.
Although her father, Moses Thembe, suspected foul play, no one was charged for her death.
Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known professionally as the South African rapper AKA, was murdered in an assassination-style shooting on 10 February 2023 outside the Wish restaurant in Durban.
Seven people have been arrested in connection to his death and the court case is currently ongoing.
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According to Ferguson, When Love Kills offers a ‘nuanced exploration of the intertwined lives’ of AKA and Anele, diving into issues such as domestic violence, mental health struggles, toxic masculinity and the pressures of fame.
As reported by The Citizen, the book promises to answer many questions.
‘I am someone who’s drawn to dark stories, and as soon as there’s a toxic element to something, I’m drawn almost like a magnet to it,’ says Ferguson.
‘I’ve been through my own dark journey, and the moment that I learned that Anele had “fallen”, I wanted to know what had happened in that room.’
‘My heart broke for this young girl. I asked myself: what were they doing at that time of the morning? At 7am? I highly suspected drugs and alcohol had been involved. I always liked AKA’s music, but over time I think fame got to him and he got carried away by his celebrity.’
‘I wondered what had gone on behind closed doors. Just like everybody else, I followed the story closely.’
She adds that she was alerted to videos and pictures of AKA and Anele’s altercations on social media.
‘A few weeks later, the videos came out, and I was enraged as a woman by what looked like abuse to me, (…) so I became more involved in the story. Then Kiernan was killed. This was a huge tragedy, and as a journalist, I couldn’t help but want to write about it.’
‘People don’t like women who speak out, women with big mouths, but I can never be silent about what looks like injustice; it’s just not me.’
‘I have never worked harder on a book. I went down a rabbit hole of research, reading everything I could about the couple, speaking to people, and going on his social media.’
‘In some way, I think the callousness, cruelty, and divisions on social media played a role in both of their deaths. Sometimes I felt like a voyeur and sickened by the responses as I watched it all go viral.’
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However, the Forbes family distanced itself from When Love Kills.
In a statement, the family said: ‘We are not in any way associated with Melinda Ferguson’s book. We do, however, find the intended publication of the book and the timing distasteful and opportunistic.’
Ferguson says the story needed to be told.
‘I feel very sorry for the Forbes, for their loss, for his fans, and for the senseless loss of Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane and his family. No family deserves to bury their child, no matter the circumstances, but I stand by my book and believe this story needs to be told. I did the work. I interviewed people from both sides.’
She denies that she did not speak to Moses Thembe while writing the book.
‘I spoke to Moses Tembe and I spoke to people close to Kiernan, but most of those people didn’t want to be named. People are scared because AKA was assassinated, and people are reluctant to be identified. While they might have told me unflattering things, nobody wanted to look like they were betraying AKA.’
‘Moses was a father in grief and I spent valuable time with him as he walked through painful memories. I also use a lot of Kiernan’s words when he describes what happened the night Anele died; he’s very alive in the book. My real struggle was getting information about Anele.’
‘While writing the book I heard her voice screaming in my dreams, and I wanted to remind people of her life. We have to have these difficult conversations.’
‘I relied on Moses and people who knew her for a character profile, as she had no voice and very little social media presence. She lost her life at a time when she was just about to start living.’
In response to the mixed reactions on social media, Ferguson says: ‘The tragedy of AKA and Anele became one of the biggest news and human-interest stories since the trial of Oscar.’
‘Some people have been outraged, asking why have I written about people who have died, but I don’t understand why death is a hands-off topic, especially when there is so much suspicion around how both of them died.’
‘What is the right timing? Anele died three years ago. I have been watching the story unfold and for me, the timing of this book felt right.’
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Also read:
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Picture: Melinda Ferguson / Facebook