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Maybe you’ve spent a little more than you intended to on a night out. Or perhaps you’re an alleged prophet who potentially needed to clean some bills in a money-laundering effort. While the speculations are still only speculations at this point and are almost all from Twitter detectives, the R1.3 million bill has definitely sent the internet down a rabbit hole of questions. 

The story revealing a surmountable sum of money spent on one evening and less than six hours in fact at a bar/restaurant in Pretoria began as most things do in the digital age – with a Facebook post. 

Tshilamulela Thabelo Iven posted a photo of the bill that would later shock anyone who has felt guilty for spending R100 more than they intended to on a night out. The ‘festivities’ that could have likely been used for a myriad more fruitful or uplifting endeavours occurred on Saturday, January 8, just before midnight at the 012 Lifestyle Brooklyn, situated in Brooklyn Mall.

At first, people suspected it to be fake news. Some things just didn’t add up at first glance. For starters, the bill consisted of 100 bottles of Ace of Spade Rose champagne at R10 000 a pop, which made up the bulk of the million-rand pursuit. As users began to point out, an establishment like the 012 Lifestyle Brooklyn wouldn’t necessarily have that many bottles of such lavish champagne to start with – It isn’t Nobu in Los Angeles after all, the spot of the stars.

However, the restaurant confirmed the bill to The South African – debunking the fake news element.

Now, people were truly confused. If it was real, what was the purpose? ‘Making it rain’ for the sake of it? The clout? Burning money because one can? Or something darker? The suspicious user’s ears perked up quickly.

This is where the social media speculations of money laundering intensified and the identity of the patron fished out.

Who was behind the bill?

Said patron is allegedly pastor Passion Java according to NewsDay. Why exactly a pastor would be racking up bills of this amount is still questionable, although the short answer is that it was a birthday celebration. 

For those of us who feel quite ill at the thought of so much money spent on one night in light of celebration, we can at least take a very limited amount of comfort in knowing that the waitrons tips were more than decent.

As for 012 LifeStyle, they walked away with a lot of publicity, and a ‘good night’ in restaurant terms. 

As for South Africans and slooths alike, we’ve walked away with a wild conspiracy theory.

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Picture: Tshilamulela Thabelo Iven

 

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