One of South Africa’s top rap artists, known as AKA, has been shot dead outside a restaurant in the eastern city of Durban, his family said. Kiernan Forbes, 35, won multiple South African awards, was nominated several times for a Black Entertainment Television award in the US and was once nominated for an MTV Europe music award. “It is with extreme sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our beloved son,” his parents, Tony and Lynn Forbes, said in a statement posted on AKA’s Twitter account. “Our son was loved, and he gave love in return.” He was shot on Friday night alongside another man while they were walking towards their car from a restaurant. Police said: “They were allegedly approached by two armed suspects who walked to them from across the street and shot the victims at close range.” Forbes was booked to perform at a club on Friday night, according to the Durban city mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda. Police said the motive of the shooting was unknown, and an investigation was under way.