Musician Danie Botha apologises after false rapture prediction goes viral

FORECAST FIASCO

- LUTHO PASIYA

GOSPEL singer and preacher Danie Botha has apologised for his claims about the timing of the biblical rapture.

The apology follows a week of social media discussions that have gone viral, where people debated predictions about the end-times event.

Many social media users reacted with a mix of concern and humour as predictions spread online.

The conversation began with South African self-styled messenger Joshua Mhlakela, who claimed the rapture would occur on Tuesday or Wednesday, September 23 and 24.

Mhlakela shared his prediction during an interview on the YouTube channel CettwinzTV, saying he had received a vision. "I saw Jesus sitting on His throne," Mhlakela said, "and I heard the words: 'I am coming soon.

He emphasised that the rapture - a Christian belief that at an unknown future moment, Jesus Christ will return to take believers, both living and dead, out of the world - was imminent.