AKA and Amanzimtoti taxi boss murder suspects brought home in shackles
After fleeing to Eswatini and fighting extradition for months, the Ndimande brothers are now facing multiple charges for the murder of a Toti taxi boss and musician AKA.
THE Ndimande brothers, who have been linked to the 2022 murder of a taxi owner in Amanzimtoti, as well as the murder of artist Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello Motsoane, were recently extradited to South Africa from Eswatini.
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Malusi and Siyabonga Ndimande fled to Eswatini after the police got hot on their trail following investigations that allegedly linked them to the crimes. They were arrested in Mbabane in February, sparking a months-long fight against being returned to South Africa to stand trial. The extradition came after they abandoned their court fight against being brought back into the country.
Amanzimtoti taxi boss shooting
On November 9, 2022, William Kunene, 57, was gunned down at Seadoone Mall in broad daylight as he finished loading groceries into his car. In a video that circulated widely on social media, two gunmen could be seen taking turns in shooting Kunene even as he had fallen to the ground. His teenage son, who was in the car, was unharmed.
In a 2024 affidavit, the KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions, Advocate Elaine Harris, said the Ndimande brothers had been identified as suspects in Kunene’s killing. She said the siblings come from a family that owns a fleet of taxis, and it was suspected that Kunene’s murder had something to do with taxi-route disputes.
Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’ murder case
Musician AKA and Motsoane were shot and killed as they exited a Florida Road, Durban restaurant in the evening of February 10, 2023, just three months after Kunene’s murder.
A total of seven suspects have been arrested for AKA’s shooting, and five have appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court, while the Ndimande brothers were fighting extradition. At the time of the arrests, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi confirmed that forensic testing had shown that the firearm that was recovered while investigating the AKA case was also used to kill Kunene.
In total, the Ndimande brothers are facing 24 charges, which include conspiracy to commit murder, murder, attempted murder, and the unlawful possession of automatic firearms and ammunition.
They have appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court, and they have been remanded in custody while the case continues.
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