JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – South African police are closing in on the killers of musician AKA, it was revealed on Monday.
Police Minister Bheki Cele told a media briefing that not only had police found vehicles used in the apparent hit on the hip hop star but they had also “located” the killer gun and had a list of suspects.
Police were moving carefully before making arrests so that they don’t blow their case by submitting half-baked evidence, Cele suggested.
AKA, real name Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, was shot several times outside a Durban nightclub in an apparent hit back in February. His friend was also murdered.
“We have found the cars that were used by the suspects on the night of AKA’s shooting,” Cele told journalists at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg on Monday.
Investigators want to deal with the AKA murder “properly,” Cele said – a suggestion that they intend to build a watertight case to avoid the prosecution pitfalls befalling other high-profile murders.
“The gun and the people [implicated in the shooting] have [also] been located,” Cele added.
In June, South Africa’s police chief Fannie Masemola revealed: “With regard to AKA, we know exactly who we’re looking for. It’s a matter of just rounding them up, that I can assure you.”
And in September, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said while they knew their suspects, they also still had some evidence to go through.
He said AKA’s murder happened in a public place, therefore many people were involved and many phone calls happened on the night of the shooting.
Mkhwanazi said there is hours of video footage that must analysed, noting that more than 25 mobile phones also needed to be examined.
