Considered one of the most famous and equally controversial preachers in South Africa, Bishop Israel Makamu of the Endless Hope Bible Church in Alberton has earned a place in both the mainstream and online media spaces over the years.
Although he has gained a huge following from his stunts, he has also been subjected to public backlash for some of his actions that the majority of the public found were not in good taste.
The most recent controversial moment of Bishop Makamu and perhaps his biggest controversial moment yet was when in May 2021 a voice note between him and a woman who was allegedly a former employee of his church was leaked and went viral.
The bishop was allegedly heard in the voice note soliciting s*x from the young woman who rejected his advances.
So who was the woman alleged to be Bishop Makamu’s girlfriend in the leaked voice note? Here is everything you need to know about her and the whole scandal that nearly brought Makamu’s career down.
So who was the woman alleged to be Bishop Makamu’s girlfriend in the leaked voice note? Here is everything you need to know about her and the whole scandal that nearly brought Makamu’s career down.
Who was Bishop Makamu’s alleged girlfriend?
Following the scandalous leaked audio, it was only normal for tweeps to try to find out the identity of Bishop Makamu’s alleged girlfriend.
It didn’t take long for them to come up with a face whom they claimed was the woman behind the leaked audio. The photos of the beautiful young woman whose identity was not revealed circulated on Twitter with tweeps hilariously “forgiving and understanding” Bishop Mukami as they acknowledged the woman’s beauty.
It however later emerged that the woman whose photos had trended on Twitter was not Bishop Makamu’s alleged girlfriend and tweeps had the wrong girl. This was after a few family members of the young woman rubbished the claims that she was the one in the leaked audio tape and explained that the woman in the photos is Xhosa who doesn’t speak Setswana (the language used in the tape).
Read also: Top 5 richest pastors in South Africa.
What happened to Bishop Makamu?
While the real identity of the woman in the tape was not revealed to the public, the woman later opened a sexual assault case against Bishop Makamu who was arrested and held at the Brackendowns Police on the 26th of May 2022.
As expected, Bishop Makamu denied claims that the video had been sexual explaining that the audio had been recorded in 2017 and had been altered for the purpose of extorting money from him. He also voluntarily stepped down from Moja LOVE TV as he gave room for investigations to be conducted.
He was later released on an R2,000 bail and his show Rea Tsotella on Moja LOVE Tv was later reinstated in July 2021. The case against him was also later withdrawn.