Three funeral firms in South Africa have said they would sue a pastor, Alph Lukau, for involving them in his scam resurrection of a dead man, BBC reports.
Pastor Alph Lukau appeared in a viral video placing his hands on a supposed dead man in a coffin. After the pastor screams “rise up”, the supposed dead man rises to cheers from worshippers.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) told South Africa’s national broadcaster that “there are no such things as miracles. They are made up to try to get money from the hopelessness of our people.”
The cleric has come under attack since the video of him performing the said miracle outside his church in Johannesburg went viral.
The funeral firms, Kingdom Blue, Kings & Queens Funeral Services, and Black Phoenix, say they were tricked by the family of the said deceased and the church.
The funeral directors say the scheme has damage their reputation, adding that the coffin was acquired from Kingdom Blue.
A source said the alleged family members of the deceased told the Kings & Queens Funeral Services they had had a “dispute with a different funeral service provider.”
They also allegedly placed “Black Phoenix stickers on their private car” to look credible to Kings & Queens Funeral Services when they went to hire a hearse from them.
The pastor’s church, Alleluia Ministries International, has not responded to BBC’s request for comment.
In 2018, a South African pastor was found guilty of assault for spraying his followers with a household insecticide which he falsely claimed could heal cancer and HIV.
