By A Correspondent- After he prophesied to his congregation and in front of international cameras, that the coronavirus will disappear, social media users have said he lied and church leaders have said he was wrong.

Speaking in his church last month, Nigerian Pastor TB Joshua said the virus would disappear on 27 March.

“It will go the way it came,” he said.

But seven days beyond that date, more than one million people are infected and thousands have died, five of them in Mzansi.

Solomon Ashmos, the founder of the Movement against Church Abuse, said Joshua is using the coronavirus to market himself by making people believe that God is speaking to him.

“He is trying to make people believe that he is a true prophet,” said Ashmos.

“There’s no justification. He is deceiving people. Instead of telling people to follow health regulations to curb the spread of the virus and support those who can’t make a living anymore, he is marketing himself,” said Ashmos.

Leader of the Incredible Happenings Ministries, Prophet Paseka Mboro Motsoeneng said when he found out about Joshua’s prophecy from people, he knew it wasn’t God who spoke to him.

“God will not lie,” he said.

“As churches, we need to pray harder but also take measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

“We need to keep church members safe and educate them about hygiene.”

Mboro is currently on a campaign donating sanitisers.

Grace Bible Church leader Bishop Mosa Sono urged church leaders not to disregard medical advice.

He said: “It’s important that we, as leaders, must admit it when we are wrong. There’s no reason a leader shouldn’t admit that they were wrong.-DailySun