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Johannesburg - Nigerian preacher TB Joshua's pledge to donate R50 000 to the families of the victims of his church's collapse is welcomed, the Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship (MMF) said on Saturday.
"Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship has welcomed the donation of over R4m announced by the Synagogue Church of All Nations to assist families of victims of the church building collapse in Nigeria meet funeral expenses," chairperson of MMF Zandisile Mpame said in a statement.
"The announcement of aid to the families that lost their loved ones during the tragic incident does not come as a surprise to those of us in the church who are familiar with Prophet TB Joshua's global humanitarian and philanthropic activities which have contributed over $200m over the years towards various causes to alleviate the plight of those in need."
On Friday Joshua's church released a statement saying a R50 000 donation would be paid towards funeral expenses of each family of the victims of the church building collapse.
Audit of financial needs
The church's spokesperson Kirsten Nematandani said they had done a full audit of each family's financial needs and assisted with various household expenses as many of the deceased were breadwinners.
He said household expenses varied from rent money to school fees and groceries. It is believed 85 people from South Africa were among those killed when a multi-storey guesthouse attached to the church, run by Joshua, collapsed in Lagos on September 12.
On Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe announced that DNA samples of the 116 victims had arrived at a laboratory in South Africa for analysis.
The DNA process was in the hands of the Nigerian authorities, who had appointed a laboratory in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, to do the analysis.
Nematandani said the church had travelled to all provinces in the past few weeks to visit, counsel and assess families' financial needs and assist where possible.
