Taxi Hitman Linked to AKA and Tibz Murders: Gun from Taxi Bloodbath Matches Weapon in AKA and Tibz Killings
Accused taxi hitman Siyanda Eddie Myeza is now set to stand trial for two separate murder sprees in a single, consolidated case – one arising from a deadly taxi industry ambush in May 2022, the other from the high-profile assassinations of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend, chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, in February 2023.
Prosecutors believe the same gun that killed Motsoane in Durban’s Florida Road entertainment strip was also used in the earlier taxi killing, and that Myeza supplied both the firearm and the getaway vehicle used in the AKA hit.
Accused taxi hitman Siyanda Eddie Myeza appeared alone in court on Monday as prosecutors revealed his separate taxi murder charges would be rolled into the Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane murders case.
The consolidation represents a major escalation in the State’s case against the 22-year-old Umlazi resident, who is alleged to be deeply embedded in violent taxi conflicts and now also linked to one of South Africa’s most shocking celebrity murders.
Cases to be tried together
Myeza appeared by himself in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on Monday, where senior prosecutor Elvis Gcweka asked that the taxi-related charges be combined with the Forbes and Motsoane indictment. His defence lawyer, Sibusiso Dlamini, did not oppose the move.
Accused taxi hitman Siyanda Eddie Myeza appeared alone in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on Monday as the prosecution revealed his separate taxi-related murder charges would be rolled into the case surrounding rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane’s murders.
Senior State prosecutor Elvis Gcweka made the request for the consolidation in court, and it was unopposed by Myeza’s defence attorney, Sibusiso Dlamini.
Gcweka told the court that evidence from the May 2022 taxi-related murders was received last week.
According to a source close to the investigation, the spent cartridges found at the scene of the taxi-related murders with Myeza’s fingerprints match the gun which fired the bullets that killed Motsoane
The 22-year-old from Umlazi now faces an expanded indictment that merges his original charges from a vicious May 2022 taxi industry bloodbath with the February 2023 murders that left the nation in mourning.
The State’s decision to combine the matters is driven by forensic evidence and by its overarching theory that Myeza served as a common link between organised taxi violence and the alleged contract killing of AKA.
The May 2022 BP station ‘bloodbath’
The first set of charges relates to a brazen hit on 6 May 2022 at a BP filling station on Jan Smuts Highway, where bullets tore through the forecourt in what prosecutors describe as a planned and premeditated attack.
Myeza’s charges stem from an incident on 6 May 2022 when bullets flew at a BP filling station on Jan Smuts Highway, where taxi owner Sibongiseni Gift Khanyile was the target of an alleged hit.
The State alleges that Myeza and his crew “planned to kill Sibongiseni Gift Khanyile and they knew he would be at the BP filling station”.
It’s alleged that Myeza and his conspirators “arrived at the BP station in a stolen Toyota Etios, armed with firearms” and “opened fire on Khanyile’s vehicle”.
Taxi boss Khanyile and Nhlakanipho Msani were killed.
Msani, who had allegedly been part of Myeza’s gang, died in the gun exchange between Khanyile’s people and his attackers.
Charges attached to this incident are conspiracy to commit murder, two murders, two attempted murders and vehicle theft, which already carry potential life sentences.
The State alleges the killings were “planned and premeditated” with Myeza acting “in furtherance of a common purpose”.
It is this shooting – and, critically, the spent cartridges recovered at the scene – that investigators now believe directly connect Myeza to the weapon used in the Florida Road attack.
Linking the taxi hit to the AKA murder
The homicide of Forbes and Motsoane outside Wish restaurant on 10 February 2023 stunned South Africa and triggered a sprawling investigation. CCTV footage captured a coordinated ambush: one gunman walked up to Forbes and fired at close range, while co‑conspirators allegedly provided backup and escape vehicles.
The State now argues that, behind the scenes, Myeza acted as a “weapons supplier” and logistics man for the Florida Road operation.
Myeza’s alleged role in the Forbes case was that of a weapons supplier.
On the night of Forbes’ murder at approximately 20:00, alleged co-conspirator Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande requested a “Mercedes and the firearms”.
Those same weapons would be used hours later to gun down Forbes and Motsoane outside Wish restaurant on Florida Road.
Police arrested Myeza in April 2023 for unlawful firearm possession and the Norinco pistol with filed-off serial numbers in his possession may have delivered the forensic breakthrough investigators needed.
Ballistic analysis tied that seized Norinco pistol to the scene on Florida Road.
During the bail application of Myeza and his co-accused in the murder of Forbes and Motsoane, investigating officer Warrant Officer Kumarasan “Bob” Pillay in an affidavit had said:
> Ballistic evidence established that the Norinco pistol found in the possession of Myeza was positively linked to the two nickel spent cartridges found next to the first deceased in this matter (Forbes).
Now, according to sources, those same ballistics are being used to link the weapon – and by extension, the accused – to the earlier taxi killings.
> The consolidation follows evidence that spent cartridges from a May 2022 taxi bloodbath allegedly carried out by Myeza perfectly match the gun that killed Motsoane.
If proven at trial, this would place the same gun at both crime scenes and, coupled with other evidence such as fingerprints and phone records, could significantly strengthen the State’s narrative of Myeza as a repeat player in contract killings.
What comes next
With the consolidation application unopposed, Myeza will now answer to a combined charge sheet that includes:
– Conspiracy to commit murder
– Two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder related to the BP station shooting
– Vehicle theft
– Murder charges linked to the deaths of Forbes and Motsoane
– Firearm-related offences
Myeza and his co-accused in the AKA and Tibz case are due back in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on 19 June, when the consolidation is expected to be formally finalised and a new trial timetable set.
Myeza and the other accused in Forbes and Motsoane’s murders are back in court on 19 June, when the criminal cases are expected to be formally consolidated.
For the families of both the taxi violence victims and the slain entertainer and his friend, the merging of the cases may offer some hope that a clearer picture of the alleged broader killing machinery will finally emerge in court.
It also means that when Myeza eventually goes on trial, jurists will be confronted not only with one night of gunfire on Florida Road, but with an alleged pattern of meticulously planned hits spanning at least two deadly incidents – and a young accused whom the State paints as a crucial cog in that deadly enterprise.
