Anele Tembe inquest: Eyewitness details gruesome discovery
· The South African
Rob Steffanutto – the man who reportedly saw AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes, moments after Anele Tembe’s fatal fall off the 10th-floor balcony of the Pepperclub Hotel, and helped her in her dying moments – has shared details of his gruesome discovery on day one of her inquest, heard at the Cape Town Magistrates Court.
The formal hearing, which is not a criminal trial, will take place over the next few days.
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Thus far, six witnesses have already testified – two police officers, a hotel manager and employee, and two witnesses, one of whom had video footage.
ANELE INQUEST: EYEWITNESS DETAILS GRUESOME DISCOVERY
Addressing the court, Cape Town businessman Rob Stefanutto detailed the sequence of events from before Anele Tembe’s fatal fall to his comforting her in her dying moments.
The property agent had been staying at The Sentinel hotel, which ran parallel to The Pepperlub Hotel on Loop Street.
His balcony was on the same eye level as the one belonging to AKA and Anele’s room, a mere 50-60 metres away.
Around 7.30 am on the morning of 11 April 2021, Rob recalled hearing a fight between a man and a woman. The woman – Anele Tembe- repeatedly shouted the words: “Leave me alone, get away from me”.
Shortly afterwards, he heard what he described as a wailing sound, followed by a loud bang. He then heard a man – AKA – shout the words: “My God, my God”.
From his hotel balcony, Rob saw the body of Anele lying on the pavement below. He also saw AKA standing on his hotel room balcony.
He immediately rushed down to the ground floor, where he discovered Anele’s naked body covered with a sheet, which was placed over her by a hotel employee.
Anele Tembe fell to her death off the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in 2021.COMFORTING ANELE TEMBE IN HER DYING MOMENTS
Rob Stefanutto continued his testimony in the inquest that he had discovered that Anele Tembe was still alive, despite falling 10 floors to the ground.
He told the court, “I pulled the sheet back, and she was alive. Her eyes were open. I saw a young black woman who had blood coming out of her mouth. She was completely naked under it.
“Her left leg was broken. I said to her, ‘If you can’t speak, blink,’ and she blinked.”
Rob administered CPR to Anele and wiped blood off her face. He comforted her and told her not to be afraid, as help, via the paramedics, was on the way.
He continued: “I just sort of prayed to her. I didn’t know if she was a religious person, and that seemed to calm and comfort her.”
Paramedics eventually arrived and attempted to resuscitate Anele after she went into cardiac arrest. However, her injuries were too severe, and Anele was declared deceased on the scene.
AKA ‘CHOSE TO HIDE’
Between the time of Anele Tembe’s fall and her death, her fiancé AKA remained in his hotel room.
He later revealed his entourage had told him not to go down to the pavement where Anele lay dying.
Admonishing AKA for his no-show, Rob Stefanutto was quoted in the book When Live Kills: The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele as saying, “If someone jumps off a building and you are their fiancé, you come downstairs. One has to wonder whether he didnt come down and instead chose to hide away upstairs because he might have been scared that I would recognise him. He had seen me standing on the balcony across his room just after she dropped”.
Rob then made a surprising comment about what happened thereafter.
He continued: “After all this happened, I went to the senior police officer, and I said that I’d like to make a statement. And then I waited and waited, but no one ever contacted me”.
A few days later, Rob received a call from Moses Tembe’s attorney, who helped him submit a detailed statement about the incident.
Rob then hinted at foul play.
He continued: “It was submitted to the authorities…but to this day, I don’t know what happened to that statement.