A witness identifies a figure in the airport footage
A detective has told the Durban High Court that the man recorded following Kiernan “AKA” Forbes at King Shaka International Airport on 10 February 2023 was one of the seven accused in the rapper’s murder trial. The testimony is a new step in the prosecution’s attempt to reconstruct the hours before Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were shot outside a restaurant on Durban’s Florida Road.
SAPS technical detective Sergeant Rajen Sanders identified the person in the surveillance material as accused number four, businessman Mziwethemba Gwabeni, during proceedings on Thursday, 22 October. The State’s account connects airport footage with vehicles seen following Forbes towards his hotel. This is testimony being tested in court, not a judicial determination that Gwabeni participated in the killings.
What the footage is said to show
According to reports from the hearing, Sanders identified Gwabeni in footage at the airport and in a grey BMW that appeared behind the vehicle carrying Forbes at a tollgate. The court also viewed material involving a grey VW Polo near the hotel where Forbes was staying. A car-rental operator had previously given evidence about vehicles hired to Gwabeni.
Sowetan reported that defence counsel William Nicholson objected to the detective identifying his client in court, but Judge Nomfundo Sipunzi allowed the witness to continue. That dispute matters: the prosecution must still establish the reliability and meaning of the footage and withstand cross-examination. A person appearing in surveillance images does not, by itself, prove responsibility for a murder.
A case that reaches beyond music
Forbes and Motsoane were killed on 10 February 2023, a double murder that shook South African music and hospitality circles. Seven men are standing trial in the Durban High Court. They have pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder and other alleged offences.
The trial is now moving from the broad allegations heard during earlier bail proceedings to the detailed examination of witnesses, vehicle movements and recordings. The crucial question is whether the State can connect each accused person to the charged offences through evidence that survives the defence’s challenges.
For the families of both victims, the CCTV evidence is another part of a long legal process. The trial continues; the accused are presumed innocent unless convicted.
Sources and verification
Sowetan, 22 October 2026: Sergeant Sanders’s evidence and the defence objection: Read source ↗
Eyewitness News, 22 October 2026: courtroom identification and vehicle footage: Read source ↗
Eyewitness News, 23 October 2026: prosecution’s account of movements before the killings: Read source ↗
