‘I heard a loud scream followed by a bang, as if someone had been hit by a car,’ Tembe inquest hears - TimesLIVE

More than five years after the death of Anele Tembe, the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Monday began an inquest into the circumstances surrounding her fatal fall from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in April 2021.

A hotel employee told the court she was on a phone call with Tembe’s fiancé Kiernan “AKA” Forbes shortly before she heard a loud scream followed by what she described as a bang.

Six witnesses testified on the first day of the inquest: two police officers, a hotel manager, a neighbour, a businessperson who supplied video footage to police, and the hotel employee.

The court ruled that the witnesses could not be named. Some also indicated that they did not want their evidence recorded.

The employee told the inquest she was working as a supervisor at the hotel when the incident occurred. She had started her shift at about 6.30am, and the incident happened roughly an hour later.

She received a call from room 104 from a panicked man asking for security to come to the room because someone was standing on the balcony.

“He didn’t say his wife or girlfriend. He just said, ‘someone’. I recognised his voice as he was normally [at] the hotel,” she said.

While they were speaking on the phone, she heard a loud scream followed by a bang.

She immediately ran outside, where she found a woman lying on the ground.

The witness said she could not immediately identify the woman because of the extent of her injuries.

“I called security to come and assist and also bring a sheet. Her face was rearranged, and we covered her with a sheet. We realised that she was still moving,” she said.

She then tried calling room 104 again, but there was no response.

According to the witness, Tembe’s body remained at the scene until sometime between 2pm and 3pm.

She said that after the incident, she had not seen Forbes again.

A police warrant officer, who was the second witness to testify, told the inquest Forbes had told police that he and Tembe had argued.

“They had an argument during the night. They were fighting about her having to marry him, and the father [Forbes] was putting pressure on her to marry him. So the only story that he did say was that they argued,” the officer said.

When he arrived at the scene, a police sergeant briefed them about what had happened and handed him a statement.

However, the officer said he soon realised that the statement was incomplete.

“I didn’t even read the statement further because I was like, ‘What’s going on? Why is he in this other person’s statement?’”

The officer said he and a colleague then went to room 105, which was next to 104.

By that stage they knew the identity of the man in the room.

Forbes appeared fine, the officer testified, but he said they could smell alcohol.

“You could smell that alcohol was involved. But you can’t say if it was from the previous night or immediately, or if he had something with him just after everything happened,” he said.

Police then entered room 104, where they found the room in disarray.

He testified that they found a champagne bottle with its wrapping removed and the top missing. There was also what appeared to be blood around the bottle.

He said bloodstains were also found on the bedding, towels lying on the floor and part of the wall.

On the balcony, police found a chair and cigarette butts.