Ramaphosa says NO to official provincial funeral request for slain rapper AKA

South Africa - Johannesburg - For the first time since AKA’s killing at the weekend his father Tony Forbes today spoke at a press brief in Bryanston. He thanked South Africa for their support and a special thanks to SAPS Durban and AKA’s Durban based friends for the help they gave. He also denounced social media posts that painted some of the rappers friends in a bad light. Picture: Timothy Bernard / African news Agency (ANA)

South Africa - Johannesburg - For the first time since AKA’s killing at the weekend his father Tony Forbes today spoke at a press brief in Bryanston. He thanked South Africa for their support and a special thanks to SAPS Durban and AKA’s Durban based friends for the help they gave. He also denounced social media posts that painted some of the rappers friends in a bad light. Picture: Timothy Bernard / African news Agency (ANA)

Published Feb 16, 2023

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Pretoria - President Cyril Ramaphosa has declined the Gauteng government’s request to give slain rapper, Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes, an official provincial state-funded funeral.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi had approached the president seeking he declare an official provincial funeral for the multi award-winning musician AKA. The declaration would have enabled greater financial support towards events surrounding the funeral of AKA and also would have seen flags been flown at half-mast from the declaration.

An official from government would have also been mandated to attend the funeral, with the state essentially forming part of the official burial.

Lesufi said even though his request was unsuccessful, the provincial government would continue to support the family in other ways.

“We will provide security support and ensure that the family feels our support and comfort. We felt that the person of this international stature, had to get some form of honour.

“We want to clarify that it wasn’t a financial contribution, but we wanted to drape the coffin and ensure that the flag flies at half-mast,” Lesufi said.

He said they would nonetheless provide burial space for AKA at the Heroes Acre Cemetery and they would drape his coffin with the South African flag. The Gauteng government would also provide security through law enforcement agencies during funeral proceedings.

“We feel that a person of AKA’s stature must receive some form of honour, and we want to clarify that it is not a financial contribution. We will drape the coffin, provide a gravesite at Heroes Acre Cemetery, with flags flying at half mass. We will ensure that his funeral is befitting,” said Lesufi.

Lesufi received a backlash from Twitter users when he requested for the president to make the declaration.

— IsaDrennan001 (@IsaDrennan001) February 15, 2023

Meanwhile, in December, the KwaZulu-Natal government reportedly paid over R320 000 towards the funeral costs of Mandla “Mampintsha” Maphumulo’s funeral, despite receiving a backlash from the public.

At the time, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube defended the decision, and later hit back at claims R50m had been spent on the funeral.

Dube-Ncube later clarified that over R320 000 had infact been spent, with the Office of the Premier contributing R170 000, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture contributing R50 000 and the eThekwini Municipality contributing R100 000.

“As a province, within our policy, we have decided that a megastar of this magnitude deserves our support as he exits the stage and departs for the last time to the world beyond,” said Dube-Ncube at the time of Mampintsha’s death.

AKA will be laid to rest on Saturday in a private funeral.

His memorial will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday is open only to members of the public who have obtained tickets. It will also be streamed online.

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