Nope, Zion Christian Church prophet Alec Ndiwane was not mauled by lions after charging them to prove God would intervene. That is an old hoax which keeps coming back.
The latest version of the tall tale appeared in an article published on March 29, 2018 by FB News Post and was titled "Church Leader Attacked By Lions After Trying to Prove God Would Intervene" (archived here). The new article opened:
After running straight toward a pride of lions in order to prove the "Lord's power over animals," a church leader allegedly had "his buttocks mauled" by a lion.
A Zion Christian Church prophet, Alec Ndiwane was on a safari when he was allegedly attacked by lions. He reportedly provoked them to inspire faith in the members of his church.
That story quotes an old Daily Mail story from 2016:
Christian mauled by lion after trying 'to prove Lord would intervene'
Zion Church member Alec Ndiwane wanted to show God would save him He 'fell into a trance started speaking in tongues before charging at pride' Lions chased after him and one of them clamped down on his buttocks He said: 'I don't know what came over me.
But that article has since been updated with following notice:
Kruger National Park spokesman William Mabasa has said that park officials are not aware of any such incident taking place in the park. 'It would have been reported to us if any of our rangers had taken part in this incident as reported.'
And the article on GhanaWeb the Daily Mail story was based on has been taken down: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/worldNews/Lion-nearly-killed-prophet-after-botched-miracle-421860.
Back in 2016 we at Lead Stories already debunked an article about this same lion mauling story. At the time we found out that the article was using manipulated and mislabeled photos:
Photo Of Pastor Charging Lions To Prove God's Power Is Fake | Lead Stories
Hoax Alert There's a story making the rounds about a Zion Christian Church prophet by the name of Alec Ndiwane who supposedly charged a lion in South Africa's Kruger National Park. According to several news reports 'Prophet Alec Ndiwane' (who is based in the Pretoria Soshanguve) got out of the car during a visit to the park and charged the lions.
So we doubt the story has magically become true by now...
