South African prophet David Francis
• Superstitious Folly
South African police have removed a man’s body from his widow’s bedroom after he was left unburied for more than seven weeks following his death because she hoped he would be resurrected.
The body of the man, Paul Meintjies, 77, which had been stored by a local undertaker since July 1, was returned to the family home in a coffin on Wednesday.
Police said it was a health hazard and gave the family 36 hours to bury him.
Body taken from house after failed resurrection
This is the latest in the Hertzogville "resurrection saga" which started with Oom Paul's death 52 days ago on July 1.
His widow, Anna, and her children, son Pieter and daughter Petro Joseph, were told by Durban "prophet" David Francis that Oom Paul would rise from the dead, initially on July 29.
Accordingly, they kept him "on ice" in the local mortuary - at R250 a day - in preparation for the event.
Oom Paul making 'final journey'
Residents of Hertzogville in the Free State said David Francis, who fixes leaking roofs in Durban for a living, was too embarrassed to face the community after his attempts at playing God turned into farce.
Francis had convinced the family and friends of Oom Paul, who died seven weeks ago at the age of 74 after suffering a stroke, that he would return from the dead on July 29. ...
"Well how would you feel if your brother was lying in a mortuary two months after he died and someone said he was going to get up?" asked Hettie Vorster, Oom Paul's sister.
"The man [Francis] gave us a date and nothing materialised, now instead of saying he was wrong, he made a mistake, he is nowhere to be found.
"He is sitting in his house, too ashamed to come out," she said.