Gauteng govt seeks permission from Presidency to honour rapper AKA with a state funeral.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is seeking permission from President Cyril Ramaphosa to honour rapper Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes with a state funeral. 

Lesufi visited the Forbes family on Tuesday and confirmed he had written to Ramaphosa in the hope that funds from provincial coffers would assist the family in ensuring that the award-winning entertainer gets a fitting farewell.

He said the Gauteng government is committed to providing assistance where necessary to the family.

Lesufi’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga, said the Premier has written to the Presidency, requesting permission.

He said if the president declared an official provincial funeral, it would allow the South African flag to be flown at half-mast and that there would be a State representative present at the funeral.

It would also allow government to spend on some aspects of the events leading to the burial.

AKA was killed in Durban on Friday night, alongside his former manager and longtime friend, Tebello Tibz Motsoane outside Durban’s Wish restaurant.

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said detectives were in the process of tracing the movements of the hitmen backwards in an effort to identify the killers.

Mkhwanazi believed AKA was the main target of the hit and Motsoane was struck during cross fire.

The Forbes family announced the memorial and funeral details on AKA’s social media account on Tuesday.

A public memorial will be held on Friday, 17 February, at the Sandton Convention Centre. The memorial starts at 15:00.

Tickets to attend the memorial are free and available on Webtickets. The memorial will also be live-streamed on the Akaworldwide YouTube page.

AKA will then be laid to rest in a private provincial funeral on Saturday, 18 February.

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