TV host and leader of Endless Hope Bible Church Bishop Israel Makamu has been topping the trendslist on social media after a sexual favour scandal.
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The Bishop, who is much-loved for his advice on Moja Love's popular confrontational talk show Rea Tsotella, had to step down from the show after an audio clip of him soliciting a sexual favour from a member of his church went viral.
With many jokes flying on social media about the incident, and many more tweets of condemnation (especailly because the Bishop is a married man of God who is expected to lead by the word he preaches) some claim to have found the mystery lady.
Pictures of the young lady (whose name is not known) are circulating on social media and have caught the attention of her family, friends and colleagues who have come to her defense.
Makamu mistakes are understandable, this book need to be closed #bishopmakamu pic.twitter.com/Fhcogs2N2A
— Geshon 🇮🇹 (@kgeshy) May 12, 2021
The Bishop’s request is highly understandable. Many of ours are having the same request 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 #bishopmakamu pic.twitter.com/pTOMoBSB7H
— Mohlanka wa Morena (@_DJCappuccino) May 12, 2021
According to people who know the girl in the images, she is distraught about this lie, as she has never met nor spoken to Bishop Makamu. They also explained that she is a Xhosa girl who cannot speak Setswana.
"Bethuna we woke up to my niece's pictures being circulated in these social media streets more so Twitter, aligning her to the Bishop makamu saga. Ndiyanicela bethuna stop spreading malicious lies ngoba the damage that you are creating is more than one can think. The family is hurting yiyo yonke lento yalo mntu who obviously knows my niece and is circulating these pics. She can't even speak le language ikule voice note to save her life, NGUMXHOSA WASEQOBOQOBO," a lady who identified as her aunt said.
The lady in the picture is our colleague and had nothing to do with this makamu thing please remove the picture @kgeshy
— mjolo app (@mjoloapp) May 12, 2021
Allegedly, she isn’t the girl from the audio pic.twitter.com/OVKpjFROwI
— Sanelem_ (@Sanelem__) May 12, 2021
In the viral clip, Bishop Makamu can be heard asking a lady on the other end of the call (whom he calls "my child") if she is home alone so he can come by in order for her to "give him that thing". In response, the lady (who calls him "daddy") does not give consent. After some begging and coercing she tells him that she will "give it to him" on Sunday.
With all eyes on the man of God, he vehemently denied that he was soliciting sex from the lady who he said was his employee.
"I understand that it sounds wrong, but I was just being playful. It kind of went too far, but I’d never ask for sex from any of my employees or congregation,” he said.
“I’d never do such a despicable thing. I love my wife and would never embarrass her by doing what I’m being accused of.”
However, Moja Love later released a statement which announced that he is stepping down from the show and channel.
"Moja Love has accepted Bishop Makamu's decision to voluntarily step down from the channel pending an internal investigation...On consultation with the channel, Bishop Makamu maintains that he is innocent and says that the recording dates back to 2017,” the statement reads.
“He says the lady in the recording worked for him and their conversation was not sexual in any manner, and it was altered to extort money from him,” the statement read in part.
Read the full statement here.
Image credit: Twitter