WATCH: Bushiri roasted for his hilarious method of accessing supporters’ pockets

A video circulating on Facebook in which religious leader Shephard Bushiri finds a creative way of telling his supporters he expects them to fund the construction of a new church has inspired mockery on Twitter.

In the video, the self-proclaimed prophet delivers some good news and some bad news to his congregants.

“The good news is I’ve secured R500 million for the construction of the church,” he says in the video, an announcement that is met with wild applause.

READ MORE: Barry Roux will defend Prophet Bushiri

But when the applause eventually dies down, the “prophet” delivers the bad news: “The bad news is the money is still in your pocket.”

Curiously, his followers appear to react excitedly to this bit of information too.

Some have noted that the video is from a service a couple of years ago, but many on social media are only seeing it and reacting to it now.

Twitter, true to its usual form, soon started mocking Bushiri with their own version of his quote, with one user even linking his take on Bushiri’s words to The Sowetan’s recent report that Advocate Barry Roux would be defending the religious leader, who faces fraud and money laundering charges.

The pastor was arrested mere hours after the CRL Rights Commission cleared him of responsibility for a deadly stampede at his church in Pretoria, in which three people died.

The Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church said in a statement that he was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, on charges of fraud and money laundering.

According to the statement, police officers – later identified as Hawks’ members – “stormed” the Sparkling Waters Hotel in Rustenburg at around 7am.

READ MORE: They have charged our father – Bushiri devotees

The Hawks also said in a statement that a “prophet” and his wife had been arrested, but declined to name the pair.

According to the statement released from Bushiri’s church: “They took the Prophet and our mother Prophetess Mary Bushiri in handcuffs to Pretoria. They have charged our father with fraud and money laundering.”

“As you will remember, from last year, we have struggled with reports that our father was guilty. We have repeatedly learnt from different media houses that we were under investigation. At some point accurate reports pointed out the fact that certain people within the police had demanded bribes amounting up to R10 million,” said the church statement.

(Additional reporting by ANA)

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