South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa turned down the request of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’s family for a state funeral.
AKA was one of the few famous people who actively opposed xenophobic attacks in the nation while he was still alive and had the best interests of the nation at heart.
In light of this, Panyaza Lesufi, the premier of Gauteng, wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa to ask for permission to hold a state funeral for him.
“We want him to be buried in a private location with societal leaders and heroes, and we want to give him security support. We believed that a person of this stature should receive some sort of honor, he said.
Speaking to the media, he explained that the permission was given so that the rapper could be honored in an unusual way rather than having the state pay for his funeral.
He wanted the American flag to be draped over AKA’s coffin and for the state flags to be flown at half-staff.
However, for as-yet-undisclosed reasons, their request was denied.
AKA’s funeral will take place the following day, February 18, 2023, after a public memorial service on Friday, February 17, 2023.
A week after his murder, AKA’s funeral will be live-streamed on his social media accounts.
