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Video does not show worshippers waiting for rapture in South Africa

Fatimah Quadri
Fatimah Quadri
Reading Time: 2 min.
Screenshot of the claim extracted from TikTok; Insert Misleading verdict
Screenshot of the claim extracted from TikTok; Insert Misleading verdict

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A claim that a group of people went to a mountain expecting the rapture, but later returned home disappointed, has been circulating online.

The claim, first shared by an Instagram user, @truthbe423, in a series of posts, has since been amplified across various social media platforms.

In a series of posts, as seen here, here, and here, she shared a podcast featuring a South African preacher who allegedly claimed that the rapture would occur on September 23. The poster had then followed with different video posts of people praying and ululating in the woods, after which she followed with a video of the worshippers going to the mountain and coming back.

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In one of the posts amplified by a user on X @AsakyGRN, on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, the caption read :

The people who climbed the mountain expecting rapture, here’s the video of them returning home when nothing happened.
The posts can also be seen here, here, and here on TikTok and X.
Since the inception of the posts, it has garnered significant traction on the various platforms posted.
According to Brittanica, the belief in rapture emerged from the anticipation that Jesus would return to redeem all members of the church.

CLAIM

A video circulating online claims to show worshippers climbing a mountain to await the rapture.

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub indicate the claim is MISLEADING!

Screenshot of the claim extracted from TikTok; Insert Misleading verdict
Screenshot of the claim extracted from TikTok; Insert Misleading verdict

The first video shared by the poster was from a clip cut out on YouTube, uploaded on September 9, 2025, where a South African preacher identified as Joshua Mhlakela prophesied that there would be a rapture on September 23.

A part of the video, which showed worshippers in the woods, was subjected to a Google Lens search, and the result showed that the video had earlier been posted on Tiktok in August.

Various worshippers who had attended the service on the same day had posted videos from a miracle scene that had happened the same day, as seen here and here.

The FactCheckHub had gathered that from the posts, the place the worshippers were at was a prayer mountain in Uganda, popularly known as the Calvary Prayer Mountain.

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The Calvary Prayer Mountain is a pilgrimage site of a Catholic church, which is located in Mirama village in Uganda. The site is also known as the Mirama Hills.

Further findings showed that there are various similar videos of people climbing the hill to the holy site,  coming back, anytime worshippers visit the site on TikTok

THE VERDICT

The claim that a video circulating online claims to show worshippers climbing a mountain to await the rapture is misleading; the videos have been on the internet prior to September 23, which are sights and sounds from a pilgrimage site in Uganda and not in any way connected to the rapture the South African preacher was talking about.

Fact-checker at The FactheckHub | fquadri@icirnigeria.org |  + posts

Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org.

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