Inside Nelli Tembe’s memorial service

Tributes continue to pour in for Anele Tembe. On Tuesday, 13 April her family hosted another memorial service for her.

The service was also held on Zoom for those who could not attend due to Covid19 regulations.


 

Anele, who was fondly known as Nelli, was engaged to rapper AKA.

She died after allegedly jumping out of a building on Sunday, 11 April.

First to pay tribute to Nelli was KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala.“In this difficult period, as the office of the premier in the province, we would like to extend our condolences to the family. This is a very sad loss.

We were made aware of Anele’s passing yesterday evening and we were shocked.

“We know this is very painful to the family, especially to Moses, who was very close to Anele. To Anele’s friends, celebrate her life. She was a shining star and the fact that her life has ended this way doesn’t mean that you must forget her, sustain the bright future that she had,” he said.

Jackie Cameron, who owns Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine where Nelli studied, said she is heartbroken.

She paid tribute by recalling the day she first met her.

“It came as a surprise initially when her father called to inform me about his daughter’s desire to become a chef. I pretty much spent the whole interview telling her how difficult this industry is and at the end of the interview she said I can prove you all wrong as I can do this,” she said.

“She loved a good challenge and was very competitive. She had a fire within her and she was very confident, headstrong, and stood her ground.

These are the words I wrote in one of her appraisals when she was still a student at my school.”

Themba Ngcobo, who’s the close friend of Anele’s father, said he was trembling with sadness.

“I would like to extend my condolences to both the families. I am shattered by the sudden passing of Anele. I’m still trembling and I’m in deep pain because she was almost like a daughter to me. I loved how she always questioned the authority. I’m going to miss her dearly,” he said.

Details of her funeral service have not yet been announced and the memorial services will continue until the day of her funeral.