“We’ve Never Applied for His Funeral to Be Funded By the State, Panyaza Lesufi
“We’ve Never Applied for His Funeral to Be Funded By the State, Panyaza Lesufi. It goes without saying that Kiernan AKA Forbes was one of the biggest artists to ever come out of South Africa. His untimely passing not only touched the nation, is affected the entire world. That is why many felt he needed a sent off suitable for his stature.
A few days prior to the multi-award winning rapper’s funeral, it was understood that there was a proposal that he gets a state funeral. With these kinds of funerals, the state normally goes all out and pays for everything. In AKA’s case,Gauteng’s premier Panyaza Lesufi wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting permission to be honored during his funeral.
“We want him to be buried in a secluded venue with leaders and heroes of the society, and provide him with security support. We felt a person of this international stature there must be some form of honour,” he said.
The request was declined though. Lesufi on the other hand was grilled by social media users, who felt his request was a bit too much. Many felt as much as AKA was a star, his family is capable of burying him without assistance from the government.
Lesufi has come forward to clarify, what he really wanted happening during the funeral. He was only seeking for AKA’s coffin to be adorned with the national flag and the state’s flags to be flown half-mast.
“Show me an artist that carried our country’s flag on stage across the globe, I’ll show you, AKA. As a sign of honour we were just requesting that the flag he proudly carried be flown at half mast in GP. We’ve never applied for his funeral to be funded by the state. Go well AKA,” Lesufi explained.
