On Saturday morning, Africa was shocked to hear the tragic news of the death of Keenan Forbes, popularly known by his stage name AKA.
AKA, one of South Africa's hottest rap artists, was shot dead outside a restaurant in the southeastern city of Durban, his family announced Saturday.
He becomes the latest victim in what is rapidly becoming a worrying trend in South Africa of celebrities being targeted by hitmen.
The 35-year-old has won multiple South African awards, been nominated several times for the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards in the US, and has been nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards.
“With extreme sadness, we acknowledge the death of our beloved son,” his parents, Tony and Lynn Forbes, said in a statement posted to AKA's social media accounts. “Our son was loved and he loved us back.”
He was shot and killed Friday night along with another man who was walking from a restaurant to his car.
“Two armed suspects are believed to have walked from across the street, approached the victims and fired shots at close range,” police said in a statement.
Durban Mayor Msolisi Kaunda said he was scheduled to perform at the club on Friday night.
The motive for the shooting is unknown and police are investigating.
Beauty Dorlane, chair of parliament's arts and culture committee, condemned AKA's killing as a “hit”.
She called on authorities to “protect South Africans from this new scourge of what appears to be contract killings and revenge killings, with performers and DJs appearing to be targeted.”
Last November, Oupa Sefoka, also known as DJ Sambodhi, a star of the house music subgenre Amapiano, was killed along with his bodyguard in a drive-by shooting in Johannesburg.
Gun violence in South Africa famously claimed the life of one of Africa's most beloved international artists.
In 2007, reggae singer Lucky Dube was shot three times at close range by gunmen while dropping off his teenage son at a relative's house in a failed hijacking.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Many people are allowed to use firearms for personal protection, and many more illegal guns are in circulation.
Last year, there were several shootings at pubs in the country.
In a recent similar incident, eight people were shot dead at a birthday party last month.
Aka's untimely death sparked a lot of discussion online, with his fans and other celebrities pouring their hearts out.
But even as the emotional messages continue to be shared, some are trying to provide context to the situation that appears to be putting celebrities in potential danger. Malawian radio personality Priscilla Kayla shared her two cents on the issue, appealing to celebrities in Malawi and around the world to stop sharing their location.
The Zodiac Broadcasting Station (ZBS) presenter tweeted today following the death of AKA in a drive-by shooting in Durban last night.
“Avoid sharing your location. Post when you leave the area. The enemy is always watching you,” Priscilla Kaila tweeted.
However, she came under fire from several people for what others considered insensitive tweets.
“This doesn't just apply to what happened. Many things happen to people, not just death. These people are rapists, stalkers, and thieves. [sic].etc., but please proceed with the topic you want to discuss. [sic]'' he explained in a tweet.
On the other hand, some people disagreed with Priscilla's opinion. The group claims that even if you haven't pinned your location to your social media accounts, people with motives such as killers will locate you.
In Tanzania, many artists, including those who collaborated with the late rapper, expressed their heartfelt condolences.
During his music career, AKA co-produced “Make Me Sing” with Diamond Planumz and was also featured on Joe Makini's “Don't Bother.”
AKA's compatriots also took the initiative to pay their respects. Singer Focalistic canceled her UK show, and as a tribute to AKA, she credited him as an idol and an inspiration to many other aspiring rappers and artists. He offered a moment of silence.
Rapper Kostatic, who has had multiple collaborations with AKA, including Super Soft and Work, shares the broken pink heart emoji on his Instagram account and is often seen doing videos and photo shoots while at work. I have attached various videos of people.
International artists such as Swizz Beatz and DC Young Fly also took part to pay their condolences to the late rapper.