Friends covered AKA’s body and stayed with Tibz until he passed on

Described as a man who was there for his friends until the very end, chef and businessman Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane died while surrounded by friends. 

Speaking at his memorial service held at Johannesburg’s Sacred Heart College on Thursday, friend Sthe Mabanga revealed that the chef had travelled to Durban for his birthday celebration. 

Mabanga told mourners in the hall at Sacred Heart how his last weekend with Tibz went before that fateful Friday night when he got the call that his friend had been shot. 

“Tibz was incredibly happy at this time of his life,” said Mabanga before asking people who were holding on to negative feelings that they may have been holding on to about recent interactions with Tibz in light of his passing, to let those feelings go. 

“Tibz flew to Durban to be with me on my birthday, that’s why he was there,” revealed Mabanga.  

He explained to everyone in the room how Tibz said he was passing by Florida to see AKA with the plan to head to Umhlanga for Mabanga’s birthday celebration after seeing his old friend. 

‘The world had just stopped’

“I spoke to him again, probably around 9 [pm]… and then the news started streaming in, it felt like the world had just stopped. Just nothing made sense, all I could see was that smile. We stopped everything we were doing and we drove to where he was.”

He commended friends who made sure to quickly cover Kiernan’s body and stay with the wounded Tibz right up until police had to collect the bodies at around 3:30am. 

ALSO READ: Who was the late Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane?

“The experience showed me the bond that they had, Tibz loved Kiernan. He loved him, he always called him his kid, even if they were not talking.” 

Mabanga said that even at the end of his life, Motsoane brought people together because he was love.

Love and friendship were a common thread in all the speeches given at the memorial by friends, family and even the people who taught Tibz during his time as a student at Sacred Heart College. 

In closing, programme director and former schoolmate Tebogo Moalusi announced that Tibz’s friends had come together to propose a state-of-the-art food and technology laboratory at the school in honour of the late entrepreneur.

Moalusi promised, on behalf of the group of friends who came up with the idea, to see its design and construction through. 

“The laboratory will be designed with the latest technology and equipment providing students with the tools to develop the next generation of food products and a chance to follow in Tibz’ footsteps.”

WATCH: The Motsoane family arrives at Tibz’s memorial service

Tebello ’Tibz’ Motsoane’s funeral will take place at a private ceremony over the weekend.

Tibz – as he was popularly known – was gunned down last week after having dinner with his long-time friend, Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes. 

He is credited with managing AKA at the most pivotal point in the rapper’s career under his company, ShowLove. 

Police investigations into their deaths are still underway and no announcements of arrests had been made at the time of writing. 

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