ENTERTAINMENT
Ndimande brothers charged in AKA Forbes murder after extradition from Eswatini
Two brothers, Siyabonga and Malusi Ndimande, have officially been charged with the murders of South African rap icon Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his close friend and business associate Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.
Noluthando Buthelezi
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 12 Nov 2025 (Running Africa) — Forbes and Motsoane were fatally shot outside a Durban restaurant in February 2023, moments before the rapper was scheduled to perform at a birthday celebration.
Investigators say the pair were walking toward their vehicle when two armed suspects approached and opened fire at close range. Police believe the attack was a planned assassination, with Forbes the intended target and Motsoane killed in the crossfire.
The Ndimande brothers appeared before the Durban Magistrate’s Court following their extradition from Eswatini, after a failed legal bid to stop the transfer. Interpol officials from both countries coordinated their handover at King Shaka International Airport on 11 November 2025.
Brothers Siyabonga and Malusi Ndimande — suspects in the killings of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and businessman Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane — are escorted to the Durban Police Station, where they are set to be formally charged on 11 November 2025. Image: Nhlanhla Mabaso/EWN.
Heavily escorted by specialized police units — including an airborne team — the brothers were booked at the Durban Police Station and joined five other co-accused already facing charges. The group is charged with murder, attempted murder, and additional counts linked to separate violent crime cases.
The high-profile case resurfaced during the ongoing Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice system. Suspended Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya, testified that his fallout with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi stemmed from operational disputes during the AKA investigation. Sibiya admitted he mistakenly escalated the arrests through a deputy instead of the provincial commissioner, prompting an angry rebuke.
The Ndimande brothers are scheduled to return to court later this month for their bail hearing, as South Africans continue to seek justice in one of the country’s most widely followed murder cases.
