South African funeral parlor to sue popular pastor over alleged fake resurrection

South African funeral directors have promised to sue a prophet who allegedly staged a miracle where he “resurrected” a “dead” man in the presence of his members.

Pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia Ministries International, in a viral video, was seen “resurrecting” a man who was in a coffin. “Rise up”, the prophet said to the body in the coffin and the man then jerks upright as worshippers cheer (read here).

After the alleged miracle went viral, the funeral company, from where the funeral hearse was rented, spoke up to distance themselves from the miracle. They said the miracle was staged (read here) and they were manipulated into being involved.

Three funeral companies, who say they were manipulated by the pastor to stage his miracle, are now taking legal action for damage to their reputation.

Kingdom Blue, Kings & Queens Funeral Services and Black Phoenix told local media that church representatives tricked them in different ways.

People pretending to be family members of the “deceased” allegedly placed Black Phoenix stickers on their private car to look credible. They then went to Kings & Queens Funeral Services to hire a hearse from them and lied to them that they had had a dispute with a different funeral service provider. 

Unaware of their plan, Kings & Queen Funeral Service rented out a hearse to them. They then went to Kingdom Blue to acquire a coffin.

The video of the fake miracle has sparked a national debate on fake pastors and has led to the hashtag #ResurrectionChallenge on social media.