“Pastor Dies After 30 Days of Fasting To Beat Jesus Record,” declares the headline of a post on the Kenyan blog Victor Matara. It claims a South African pastor named Alfred Ndlovu died of malnutrition after going without food for 30 days.
He was trying to copy the Bible story of Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
The post, which has been widely shared on Facebook, says the pastor’s body was found “alone in the wilderness” by a stranger, who alerted the police. But it gives no information on where or when this happened. It also quotes a “close relative” but does not give their name.
Victor Matara credits Buzz South Africa as the source of the story.
But the KnowNews tool, developed by non-profit Media Monitoring Africa to inform readers about the credibility of websites, says Buzz South Africa “may contain dodgy news” and cautions readers against sharing its content.
The article is dated December 2019, but this tale has been doing the rounds online since at least 2016.
We could find no reports from any credible news organisations that a South African pastor had died after trying to beat Jesus’s fasting record. – Africa Check
He was trying to copy the Bible story of Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
The post, which has been widely shared on Facebook, says the pastor’s body was found “alone in the wilderness” by a stranger, who alerted the police. But it gives no information on where or when this happened. It also quotes a “close relative” but does not give their name.
‘May contain dodgy news’
Victor Matara credits Buzz South Africa as the source of the story.
But the KnowNews tool, developed by non-profit Media Monitoring Africa to inform readers about the credibility of websites, says Buzz South Africa “may contain dodgy news” and cautions readers against sharing its content.
The article is dated December 2019, but this tale has been doing the rounds online since at least 2016.
We could find no reports from any credible news organisations that a South African pastor had died after trying to beat Jesus’s fasting record. – Africa Check
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ESA ALEXANDER / POOL / AFP
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