According to his family, AKA, one of the most popular rap musicians in South Africa, was shot and killed outside of a restaurant in Durban, the city’s easternmost neighborhood.

Kiernan Forbes, 35 years old, is a multi-award-winning South African musician who has also been nominated for a Black Entertainment Television award in the United States and an MTV Europe music award.

AKA’s parents, Tony and Lynn Forbes expressed their grief over the loss of their son in a message uploaded to the rapper’s Twitter page. Our son was loved, and he was loved by many.

On Friday night, he and another guy were shot as they were leaving a restaurant and heading to their cars. They were reportedly shot at close range by two armed suspects who strolled across the street to them, according to the police.

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Durban’s mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, claims that Forbes will be performing at a club on Friday night. Police have stated that they do not yet know what motivated the shooting. Cultural committee chairwoman Beauty Dlulane blasted AKA’s death as a “Hit” in parliament.

“Protect South Africans from this new epidemic of what looks to be contract and revenge killings where performing artists and DJs seem to be targeted,” she pleaded with the government.

Oupa Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody, a prominent figure in the am piano type of house music, was down in a drive-by shooting in Johannesburg last November.

One of Africa’s most renowned worldwide performers was killed by gunfire in South Africa in 2007. Reggae star Lucky Dube was shot three times in the back during an attempted carjacking as he dropped off his teenage kid at a relative’s house.

At a rate that ranks among the highest in the world, murder is quite common in South Africa. There are a large number of legally owned firearms in circulation and an even larger number of unlicensed firearms.

In 2017, there were many mass shootings in bars around the country. Just last month, eight people were killed at a birthday celebration, making this the most recent mass shooting of its kind.

Below is the complete text of their message.

— AKA (@akaworldwide) February 11, 2023