Overview

• The Sept. 23–24 window promoted by South African claimant Joshua Mhlakela ended with no credible evidence of a rapture.
• Fact-checks flagged viral clips of crowds “awaiting the rapture” as unverifiable, with visual cues pointing to Nigeria rather than South Africa.
• Prominent creators who fueled #RaptureTok have deleted or privatized content, while a few urged followers to keep waiting or floated new dates.
• Some believers reported tangible fallout, from selling cars and quitting jobs to skipping exams and posting tearful apologies.
• Reporters and scholars situated the episode within a long pattern of failed end-times dates and debated the doctrine’s modern roots and social harms.