Cape Town – Bishop Israel Makamu was released on R2 000 bail today following a brief appearance on a charge of sexual assault at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Makamu, the founder of Endless Hope Bible Church in Alberton, was arrested earlier today after a former employee of his church laid a complaint of sexual assault on May 19 at the Brackendowns police station, the Hawks said in a statement.
The case relates to an incident that allegedly happened in his church office in Alrode during September 2020.
The case was remanded to July 13 for further investigation.
Makamu, who hosts the controversial TV show Rea Tsotella on the Moja Love channel on DStv, voluntarily stepped down earlier this month pending an internal investigation into a recording in which he is heard allegedly asking for sex from a woman who was part of his congregation.
I had to watch the interview again. Haai Noo mann. makamu is insulting our sense of intelligence. #makamu pic.twitter.com/13LqRoNhZc
— Thabo (@tbozer) May 24, 2021
The recording of the conversation has been widely circulated on social media. The Rea Tsotella presenter is heard asking the woman if she was alone as he planned to go and see her.
He then proceeds to ask the woman, “o tlo mpha? (will you give me)”, to which the woman, who also happens to refer to him as “daddy”, replies with a “no” multiple times before giving in and saying she would do so on Sunday.
The channel said the bishop admitted that it was his voice in the viral recording. However, he denied that the conversation was sexual.
“On consultation with the channel, Bishop Makamu maintains that he is innocent and says that the recording dates back to 2017.
“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.
“He says he thought the matter had been resolved back then, but it suddenly emerged again three weeks ago. Bishop Makamu suspects his character is being assassinated.”
IOL