The formal inquest into the death of Anele Tembe has been postponed until September after proceedings scheduled to begin this week were delayed due to an "unavoidable medical emergency."
The Cape Town Magistrate's Court was expected to hear the matter on Monday but postponed the proceedings. The inquest will now take place on 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16 September 2026.
The court is expected to hear testimony from six witnesses as it examines the circumstances surrounding Tembe's death. The 22-year-old died after falling from the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel in April 2021.
At the time of her death, Tembe was engaged to rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes, who was with her at the hotel. In 2022, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided not to prosecute anyone in connection with the incident. Following Forbes' death in 2023, the matter was referred for a formal inquest.
The Tembe family has expressed hope that the inquest will provide long-awaited answers about the events leading to her death.
Ahead of the proceedings, new text messages have emerged that are expected to form part of the broader discussion surrounding the case.
One exchange reportedly involves Forbes and a lawyer representing the Tembe family on the day of an earlier incident at the Hilton Hotel in Durban, where Tembe allegedly threatened to jump from a building.
Another conversation between Tembe and Forbes includes messages in which she reportedly spoke about attempting to take her own life, warning that if there was "a next time," she would "do it for good."
The Tembe family says the newly surfaced messages raise further questions and has called on the NPA to investigate what it believes are discrepancies between the lawyer's affidavit and the contents of the text message exchanges.
The inquest is expected to determine the circumstances surrounding Tembe's death and whether any person can be held legally responsible.