Fresh testimony in the resumed inquest into Anele Tembe’s death has placed the final moments before her fatal fall from a Cape Town hotel’s 10th floor under renewed scrutiny.
The 22-year-old died in April 2021 after falling from the Pepperclub Hotel. More than five years later, the formal inquest has returned to the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court to examine the circumstances surrounding her death.
The latest proceedings included accounts from hotel guests and other witnesses who described hearing screams, a loud bang and the reaction of musician Kiernan “AKA” Forbes after Tembe was found on the concrete below.
The evidence has not resulted in a finding of criminal responsibility. An inquest is not a criminal trial, and testimony given during the proceedings must still be assessed by the magistrate before any conclusions are reached.
Witness Heard Woman Shouting
One witness told the court that she heard a young woman shouting in the early morning.
The witness described the woman as hysterical and said she repeatedly heard the words: “Leave me alone, get away from me.”
According to her testimony, the shouting was followed by a brief pause, a loud bang and a male voice screaming: “My God, my God.”
The witness said the sequence unfolded within four or five seconds.
Her account was presented as part of the evidence about what may have happened shortly before Tembe fell from the hotel.
However, the witness did not see the incident inside the room and could not testify about precisely what happened between the people involved.
The evidence therefore remains one part of a wider sequence that the magistrate must consider alongside other testimony, physical evidence and the investigation record.
The account has drawn attention because it describes a woman appearing to plead for distance shortly before the sound of the fall was heard.
But the words alone do not establish who was speaking, what had happened in the room or whether any criminal offence occurred.
Those issues remain for the inquest process to assess.
Reaction On The Balcony
Another witness described what happened after the loud bang.
The witness said he was staying at the Pepperclub Hotel and heard a woman screaming at about 07:30. He initially thought the sound could have been caused by a car accident.
When he looked towards the area, he saw a woman lying on the concrete below.
He then saw Forbes come out onto the balcony.
The witness testified that Forbes appeared to be looking for something before noticing Tembe’s body. He said Forbes began screaming after looking down.
The witness told the court that he used his hands to indicate that everything would be okay before calling an ambulance.
He said Forbes went back into the room while he made the call and did not come downstairs to the scene.
The witness also said he did not see Forbes again after the incident.
The evidence provides a description of the immediate aftermath, but it does not, on its own, explain what took place before Tembe fell.
That distinction is central to the inquest, which must consider all available evidence rather than treat one witness account as a complete explanation.
Conflicting Accounts Of What Was Heard
The court also heard that witnesses did not all hear the same events.
One witness said she heard the woman shouting and the loud bang. Another witness testified that he did not hear anything before Tembe’s death, despite earlier testimony about an argument between the couple.
The difference between the accounts is likely to form part of the magistrate’s assessment of the evidence.
Witnesses may have been in different rooms, on different floors or affected by the layout of the hotel and the distance from the room where Tembe was staying.
Some people may also have been asleep or unaware of what was happening until the loud noise.
The court must determine what each witness could realistically hear, see or remember and how those accounts fit with the other evidence.
The inquest has also heard evidence about events at the hotel before and after the fall.
A witness said that, during breakfast on the Sunday morning, she heard orders for tequila and shooters connected to room 1005.
She told the court that she found this unusual after realising that Tembe had fallen from the 10th floor.
The evidence about alcohol orders is part of the wider timeline, but it does not by itself prove what occurred inside the room or establish the cause of Tembe’s fall.
Testimony Not Fully Recorded
The court heard from several witnesses during the proceedings.
One witness chose not to have the testimony recorded or filmed. Other witnesses gave evidence about what they heard or saw from their rooms and the hotel’s surrounding areas.
The use of different witnesses is intended to help build a picture of the morning and the events around the fall.
The inquiry may consider hotel records, emergency calls, statements, photographs, forensic evidence and the testimony of people who were at the hotel at the time.
Each piece of evidence must be considered in context.
A witness who heard shouting may provide information about the atmosphere before the fall, while a witness who saw the aftermath may help establish the timing of the emergency response.
Neither account necessarily answers every question about what happened inside the room.
The magistrate will ultimately have to decide what findings can properly be made from the full body of evidence.
Family Seeks Answers
Tembe’s family has continued to attend the proceedings and has been represented during the questioning of witnesses.
The family’s legal representative questioned a witness about the sequence of events and the hotel room connected to orders for alcohol.
The family has sought clarity about the circumstances surrounding Tembe’s death, including what happened in the moments before she fell and how the emergency response unfolded.
For relatives, the inquest is an opportunity to place evidence on record and test accounts that have remained the subject of public discussion since 2021.
The proceedings are not a substitute for a criminal prosecution. If the magistrate finds evidence suggesting that a crime may have been committed, the relevant authorities could consider what further steps are legally available.
At the current stage, however, no conclusion should be drawn about criminal liability from the testimony alone.
Inquiry Postponed To October
The inquest was postponed to 19 October after the latest evidence was heard.
The postponement means the proceedings will continue at a later date, with further evidence still expected to be considered.
The inquiry has already taken several years to return to court, and the latest testimony has added fresh detail to the account of the morning Tembe died.
The words “Leave me alone, get away from me” and the description of a male voice crying “My God, my God” are now part of the evidence before the magistrate.
So too is the account of a witness who saw Forbes on the balcony after the fall, signalled that help was on the way and called an ambulance.
But the evidence remains contested in the sense that different witnesses described different sounds and experiences, and none of the reported testimony alone provides a complete account of the incident.
The magistrate will have to weigh those differences carefully.
The next stage of the inquest is expected to focus on further evidence about the hotel room, the fall, the events leading up to it and the response afterwards.
Until the proceedings are complete, the circumstances of Tembe’s death remain under formal examination.
For her family, the return of the matter to court offers another opportunity to seek answers about a death that has remained in the public eye for years.
For the court, the task is narrower and more precise: to assess the evidence, determine what findings are supported by the facts and decide whether any further legal action should be considered.
