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SA police arrest seven suspects in connection with rapper AKA’s murder

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The South African Police says it has arrested seven suspects in connection with the murder of rapper, Kiernan Forbes, popularly known as AKA, who was gunned down alongside his close friend, celebrity chef and entrepreneur, Tebello “Tibz” Motshoane, outside a restaurant in Durban last year.

The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects during a press briefing on Tuesday night, said the hitmen were paid to target AKA but no motive was revealed.

Mkhwanazi said the suspects, all aged below 36, are due to appear in court on Thursday.

“It was clear that AKA was monitored from the airport and Tibz was not the intended target in the murder on Florida Road in Durban. We know they were paid for this,” Lt Gen Mkwananzi said.

The Police boss said investigations has revealed that all the arrested suspects played different roles in the plot to kill AKA.

“The suspects who are behind bars include two gunmen who allegedly fired several rounds at the victims, three spotters who are accused of following AKA from Durban’s airport, someone who allegedly sourced the firearms which were used in the ambush, as well as the alleged mastermind,” Lt Gen Mkwananzi stated.

“Some of the suspects are also linked to other murder cases which are unrelated to these killings.”

According to media reports, the police had announced the arrest of six of the suspects on Tuesday evening while a seventh suspect was arrested on Wednesday morning.

Police spokesperson, Col Robert Netshiunda, said the seventh accused was a 30-year-old South African citizen originally from KwaZulu-Natal province, and is accused of acting as a spotter.

“The two alleged gunmen were found in a hideout in neighbouring Eswatini following a raid which was carried out at the weekend in conjunction with Interpol,” Col. Netshiunda said.

“They appeared at a magistrate’s court in Eswatini on Tuesday. Plans are under way to extradite the duo to face murder charges in South Africa.

“Exhibits recovered during the arrests include four vehicles, firearms linked to the the murders of AKA and Motshoane and empty cartridges.”

At another press briefing on Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele acknowledged that the killings of AKA and his friend which was caught on CCTV cameras, disturbed many people in the country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

“I hope South Africans will sleep better after this. We are all interested to know what the motive was. It is very clear that it was not a case of someone waking up in the morning angry. You can see that in the build-up and co-ordination,” the Minister said.

Culture

Collabo with Burna Boy enabled me buy house for my mum— Mozambican DJ Tarico

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Mozambican disc jockey and sound-producer, DJ Tarico, has credited Nigeria’s Afrobeats sensation, Burna Boy, with his sudden wealth which enabled him buy a house for his mother.

DJ Tarico attributed a collaboration with the Grammy Awards winning “African Giant” as the turning point in his story and said he would forever be grateful to the Nigerian star.

Speaking with the BBC African Voice on Saturday, DH Tarico said when he came up
with a particularly energetic beat one day, he couldn’t have predicted how it would change his life and that of his two friends.

He said one of his friends, Nelson Tivane, a songwriter and vocalist, came up with the lyric “Yaba Buluku” which was “inspired by the sound of coins jangling in a pocket”, while the other friend, Preck, “belted out that lyric with his gravelly, powerful voice,” with the song becoming an instant hit in their country.

“After we concluded the song, we went to a rural zone and we put a car with a big sound there, and we connected the song on the car and we saw many people dancing and ask ‘who is the owner of this song?’ Then we knew this song was going to be big!” Tarico recalls.

He said he was surprised that
none other than Burna Boy, realised the strength of “Yaba Buluku” and jumped on the remix, a move which had a massive impact on Tarico, Tivane and Preck.

“We were travelling all over Africa. Too many big artists were asking us for features. People started to know our face outside of Mozambique. We became internationals.

“And money! I bought a car, land and a house for my mother.”

The trio who now call themselves “Yaba Buluku Boyz”, have dropped their debut album, “Donsa”, on Friday, and are hoping to ride on the success of the collaboration to reach greatet heights in Africa and globally.

“Donsa”, according to DJ Tarico, “is high-energy, danceable amapiano, and features big African names including Ghana’s dancehall King Shatta Wale, Timaya from Nigeria and Harmonize from Tanzania,” he said.

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African men run away from single mothers— Joselyn Dumas

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Veteran Ghanaian actress and media personality, Joselyn Dumas, has lamented the fact that most African men shy away from getting married to single mothers due to the added responsibilities they will be saddled with.

The actress who made the assertion in her recent podcast, “Keeping it Real with Joselyn Dumas, The Perfect Picture”, opened up on the challenges of many single mothers who are struggling to find a partner because of societal biases.

In the podcast, Dumas who shared a personal story of a male friend whom she said refused to settle down with a lady because she had a child.

According to her, the friend named Anthony, firmly stated that it wasn’t his thing to be with a ‘born one’ or ‘born two’.

“He said B1, B2, I’m not in and I said to myself, ‘this is the reason why a lot of single mothers are single with their children.

“Now his reason was, why am I going to raise somebody’s child? That’s not my bloodline. He doesn’t have my DNA in him. Why am I now going to help someone’s bloodline grow? What about mine?” she said.

Dumas who is a single mother, noted that Anthony’s mindset is a “reflection of the views of a larger majority of people who don’t want to have meaningful relationship with single mothers.”

She also criticised what she termed as the double standard in society’s views on raising non-biological children, arguing that it should not be seen differently from adoption.

“I have a child but these men won’t even ask you, they don’t even care why you have a child. You’ve had seven miscarriages when you got married. You meet a guy, you were dating and you got pregnant, are you going to abort the baby because you aren’t married?

“He doesn’t want the child, are you going to throw the child away? No! You can raise the child. It takes a village to raise the child, so even if you don’t have a job, you will get support. This is part of the sacrifice you have to make regardless of what has happened,” she said.

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