Joburg pastor still dead, despite entire year awaiting resurrection in morgue

Popular pastor Siva Moodley’s remains have languished in a Johannesburg morgue for over a year now, but his family and flock have seemingly not accepted the fact that he is never coming back, as per his own pre-death prophecy.

The founder and leader of The Miracle Centre Ministry, north of Johannesburg, died on 15 August 2021, but his body has been kept at Martins Funeral Home in Fourways ever since, awaiting resurrection.

His demise has never been made public and his social media accounts are constantly being updated, reportedly by his wife Jessie, son David, and daughter Kathryn, as though he is still among the living.

Not coming back

While Moodley’s family’s faith seems unwavering, Grace Bible Church presiding Bishop Mosa Sono said resurrections were humanly impossible and could only be performed by God. While he says he is very sympathetic with the family, he would never hide the truth from them.

“The record of people raised from the dead, based on our desire, is nil. I feel so sad for the family. Unfortunately, people receive preaching and teachings that are not biblically consistent, that promises miracles at our whim… Unless God commands it so, there is no biblical basis for us to ask God to resurrect,” he said.

Sono said there have been such cases before of people prophesying their own resurrections, but none of them had come to pass and they had been eventually buried as reality sets in.

In May 2020, Cameroonian pastor Franklin Ndifor, who laid hands on his flock to cure them of Covid-19, died from the virus himself, and police had to force their way into his home as his followers had blocked the entrances and prayed for his resurrection.

In February 2019, a video of pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia International Ministries church in Kramerville, Sandton, supposedly raising a man from the dead went viral.

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However, the miracle came crashing down when it emerged that it was all a scam, and the “resurrected” Zimbabwean died months later.

Court intervention

After Pastor Moodley’s death, his family and members of the church reportedly visit the funeral home regularly to pray for his resurrection, but the last visit was September last year.

Martin du Toit, the manager at the funeral home, refused to comment on the matter, but he is reported to have lodged an application with the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court for permission to have Moodley buried or cremated.

Bathini Mbatha, director of KwelaMathongo Funeral Services, said the funeral home could also approach the high court for an order forcing the family to bury or remove the body within seven days.

He said storage for human remains cost at least R250 per day, which brings the cost for Moodley’s remains close to R100 000 by now.

“The funeral home is within its rights to approach the court. Also, so that they get paid for storing the body for all these months,” he said.

Bizarre burial requests

Mbatha said bizarre requests from bereaved families were common, saying this included burying the deceased with their favourite belongings or pets, such as snakes.

He said in some cases, families request to be left alone to ensure that whatever they do to the body or put in the coffin remained a secret.

“We have families of people who had snakes for various reasons requesting that they be buried, alive, with their owner. Some are buried with bags or sealed boxes that one would never know what they contained,” Mbatha added.

Attempts to reach Moodley’s family have been unsuccessful, with several messages on their social media pages and e-mails going unanswered.