Joshua Mhlakela [pictured here, in a screen capture from his webcast] was 14 years too late to become a co-winner of an Ig Nobel Mathematics Prize — too late in making his prediction that the world will end at a particular, specific time. The particular time is this week. The International Business Times reports (on September 22, 2025) about Mhlakela’s untimely timely prediction:
A South African pastor’s claim that the rapture will take place on 23–24 September 2025 has sparked panic, prayer and pet-related questions across the internet.
Joshua Mhlakela, a Christian pastor based in South Africa, said in an interview with CettwinzTV that he saw Jesus Christ in a vision. According to him, Jesus announced his return would happen over two days in late September, coinciding with the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.
His prophecy has since taken on a life of its own, particularly on social media, where the hashtag #RaptureTok has gained rapid traction and turned an apocalyptic warning into an online trend.
The Pertinent Ig Nobel Prize Was Awarded in 2011
The 2011 IG NOBEL MATHEMATICS PRIZE was awarded to Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.