Anele Tembe Inquest: Witness Recalls Her Cry of ‘Leave Me Alone’ Before Fatal Fall

• Rob Steffanutto told the Pepper Club Hotel inquest that he heard a heated argument between a man and a woman before Anele Tembe fell
• The witness described rushing to Tembe's side and finding her alive, with her eyes open, after hotel security had already covered her
• Steffanutto said he stayed beside Tembe, speaking to her and praying, until she could no longer be resuscitated

A witness who was among the first to reach Anele Tembe after her fatal fall from Cape Town's Pepper Club Hotel has delivered one of the most gripping testimonies heard during the ongoing inquest into her death.

Rob Steffanutto, who had no prior connection to either the Tembe or Forbes families, told the court that a loud altercation between a man and a woman drew him out onto his terrace on the night of the tragedy. He said the sounds were so alarming that he initially believed someone outside was being robbed.

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Witness recalls what he heard before Anele Tembe's fall

As the shouting intensified, Steffanutto said he clearly heard a female voice cry out,

"Leave me alone, get away from me" — words he would later recall multiple times during his testimony.

The argument grew progressively louder until he heard what he described as a sound resembling a gunshot, followed by loud wailing. A male voice then cried out,

"My God, my God."

Steffanutto ran through the terrace and spotted a person lying in the street outside the hotel. He said he had no idea at that moment who the woman was and only learned Tembe's identity through media coverage afterwards.

Anele Tembe was still alive when he reached her

When Steffanutto approached Tembe, hotel security had already placed a sheet over her. He pulled it back and found a young woman, naked beneath the covering, with blood coming from her mouth and her left leg visibly broken. Her eyes were open.

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Unable to get her to speak, Steffanutto tried a different approach.

"If you can't speak, blink," he told her.

Tembe responded by blinking. He also noticed her left hand move.

He remained at her side, repeatedly reassuring her that help was on the way and urging her not to be afraid. He prayed over her and wiped blood from her face. When asked by Tembe's legal representative whether anyone else had come to check on her during that time, his answer was direct:

"No, no one."

Steffanutto stayed at the scene until Tembe could no longer be resuscitated.

He was one of only two witnesses at the inquest, alongside Tony Forbes, who confirmed they had no objection to their testimony being filmed and recorded.

Tembe died in April 2021 after falling from the Pepper Club Hotel in Cape Town. The inquest continues to examine the full circumstances surrounding her death.

Police witness recalls AKA’s behaviour

During the same session on Monday, 7 September 2026. a police officer who responded to the Pepper Club Hotel told the court about AKA's behaviour after Tembe's fatal fall from the 10th floor.

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Details also emerged about what investigators found inside the hotel room the couple had shared that night.

Source: Briefly News