/ 23 May 2011

It’s not the end of the world — so pay up

SA followers of US evangelist Harold Camping, who predicted the end of the world for this past weekend, have been left to deal with earthly matters.

South African followers of United States evangelist Harold Camping, who predicted the end of the world for this past weekend, have been left to deal with some earthly matters — a super-high hotel bill.

Beeld reported on Monday that Johannes Coetzee and 80 of his followers had booked themselves into the Devonshire Hotel in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on Friday at R689 per night, excluding meals, for a single room, and R1 178 for a double room.

By Sunday afternoon, when there was still no sign of the world ending on Saturday, the group was still at the hotel and refused to speak to Beeld.

Coetzee did not answer his cellphone either.

His Facebook page was littered with comments, including a Jan Viljoen, who posted a message: “Johannes, praat met Facebook. Ons hoor graag van jou. [Johannes, speak to Facebook. We would love to hear from you].”

In the United States, Camping has also been keeping a low profile. This was his second end-of-world prediction that has gone wrong, after a similar mishap in 1994. — Sapa