On Sunday (Feb. 24) a video went viral of a man risen from the dead after an evangelist prayed for him at a megachurch in Johannesburg.
The resurrection left many Africans questioning the faith industry. In the video, pastor Alph Lukau of the Alleluia Ministries International was seen laying hands on a man in a coffin, who then sits up in the coffin in what the church declared a miracle.
The man is alleged to have died on a Friday and his body was being transported to Zimbabwe when his grieving family turned into the church on Sunday. After he was brought back to life he was paraded around the church, then fed a plate of food, all while wearing a shocked expression.
However, it has now been reported by the state media that Brighton died last week in neighbouring South Africa and was buried on Saturday.
A relative said his stomach started swelling and didn’t stop for three days and on the third day, he died.
The Sunday service was live-streamed on
Yet, there were just as many who believed it, prompting the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic communities, (CRL Rights Commission) to launch an investigation.