The church that South African power boss Mpho Makwana attends has a pending electricity bill of 2 million South African rand ($104,920).
Reports by South African media suggested that the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), which is headquartered in Gauteng Province, was being suspected of avoiding debt settlement due to its relationship with Makwana, the chairperson of national power supplier, Eskom.
IPHC has 350 branches in South Africa, and has at least three million members, according to the church’s data.
The church had accrued power bills for several months amounting to 2 million rand ($104,920), and was supposed to offset the bill by August 17, but it did not.
Makwana absolved
In the last eight months, the church has reportedly offset 1.1 million rand ($57,705) of power bills, remaining with a balance of 2 million rand ($104,920).
On Sunday, Eskom released a statement, absolving its chairperson Makwana of any wrongdoing in relation to IPHC’s pending power bills.
“As the chairman of the board of directors of Eskom, Mpho Makwana is not involved in operational matters, let alone dealing with customer accounts nor (influencing) Eskom’s decision in its credit management processes,” Eskom said.
“By virtue of him being a member of the church does not translate to him being personally liable for the church's electricity account,” Eskom added.
IPHC’s spokesperson Albie Wessie acknowledged that the church was owing Eskom $104,920, and that arrangements had been made to offset the unpaid bills,
