The AKA murder investigation took a new turn on Tuesday when media reports claimed Durban police made a crucial breakthrough with the discovery of the gun that killed the rapper.
Was AKA murder weapon found? – Here’s an update from Durban police
In a statement, however, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) law enforcement authorities not only dismissed the reports as untrue but also blasted the media for recklessly drumming up fake news about “the recovery of the so-called murder weapon.”
Eyewitness News claimed, in a report published on Tuesday morning, that “a man in his early 20s was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm in Umlazi, south of Durban at the weekend.”
So-called ‘sources’ informed the publication that a ballistic analysis of the seized firearm returned a match for the weapon used to murder AKA outside a popular restaurant on Florida Road, on that fateful evening of Friday, 10 February 2023.
In a fiery statement addressing the claims, Durban police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda blasted the media for “formulating uncorroborated allegations for the sole reason of triggering a reaction or solicit commentary from the police.”
“Some media houses, who clearly seem hell-bent to botch any police endeavours in finding the killers and bring justice to the families of the victims, have started the day on Tuesday morning with unsubstantiated rumours and malicious allegations about the recovery of the so-called murder weapon.
“This insensitive, unethical and inconsiderate reporting has a great potential of arming the persons of interests with ammunition to further complicate the police’s progress into the matter. Moreover, allegations of this nature also puts the investigating team under undue pressure and endangers their lives,” Col. Netshiunda said.
This is the second time Durban police have surfaced to dismiss fake news regarding AKA and Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane’s deaths.
In March 2023, Netwerk24 published an ‘exclusive’ on the arrests of five suspects supposedly linked to the rapper’s murder. So-called sources leaked information to the media about how the alleged killers fled to Cape Town and how DNA and fingerprints lifted from the vehicle that was used in the commission of the double murder were key in identifying the persons of interest.
Of course, days later, Advocate Annelene van den Heever, who represented four of the five suspects arrested for an unrelated case, made it clear her clients were, in no way, charged in connection with the assassination of the Mass Country rapper.
“Police are making another appeal to members of the media to respect the process of investigation, to refrain from publishing unfounded allegations and speculations, and to realise the unintended consequences of their actions.
“The zeal to break the story should never surpass the responsibility to report truthfully and ethically,” Netshiunda said.
More than three months have passed since AKA and Tibz were viciously gunned down on Durban’s busiest party street. Police are nowhere close to surfacing with leads on suspects but Netshiunda hinted that “police are making good progress into the investigation and when the time is right the public will be informed accordingly.”