Two masked men fled Wish restaurant after the shots that killed AKA and Tibz, eyewitnesses tell Durban court

Two eyewitnesses have told the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban that they saw two masked men running from the scene after gunshots rang out outside Wish restaurant on Florida Road, the street where rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his close friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were shot dead.

The trial continued on Thursday, with the State expected to lead further evidence about the night the pair were killed. As eNCA reported on 15 October, the court had on Wednesday also heard from witnesses who were with the two men that night, among them the rapper’s road manager and his photographer.

The defence is contesting evidence that seeks to link a firearm to the killings. That challenge is running alongside the State’s case as the proceedings continue.

For a reader following this from outside the courtroom, the shape of the matter is this. Two well-known figures in South African music and entertainment were killed in the same shooting on Florida Road, a busy strip of restaurants and bars in Durban’s Morningside area. The case has drawn sustained public attention since, and the trial is being heard in the province’s High Court, the forum that handles the most serious criminal charges.

What the court has heard so far, on the account carried in the reporting, is eyewitness testimony about the moments after the shots, and testimony from people who were in the company of Forbes and Motsoane that night. The firearm evidence is disputed, and that dispute is now part of the record the court will weigh.

The State has not closed its case. Further evidence on the night of the shooting is expected, and the trial continues.

We have credited eNCA for the reporting above. The facts of what happened on Florida Road, and who is responsible, remain matters for the court, and this paper will report the evidence as it is led rather than reach ahead of it.