End of the world now seen as happening only in October

While South Africans celebrated Heritage Day on Sunday many people around the globe were possibly a little surprised - and perhaps even relieved - to wake up to discover that the world was little changed and had in fact not ended.

Many had feared that Saturday would be their last day on Earth after a Christian numerologist David Meade had predicted it would end on that day.

According to reports‚ his theory was that a so-called Planet X‚ also known as Nibiru‚ would pass Earth on September 23‚ causing volcanic eruptions‚ tsunamis and earthquakes.

Citing biblical verses in Luke 21:25 and 26‚ he said that recent events such as the recent solar eclipse witnessed in the US and Hurricane Harvey were signs of the apocalypse.

September 23 was pinpointed using codes from the Bible and also a “date marker” shown by the pyramids of Giza in Egypt‚ the British newspaper The Sun reported.

However‚ NASA was quick to dismiss the claims as a hoax.

"Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax‚" the US space agency said in a statement‚ pointing out that Planet X in fact did not even exist.

And on Sunday‚ Meade reportedly said the end was still nigh – but not just yet.

Fox News quoted him as saying that Saturday merely marked the beginning of a series of catastrophic events to occur over several weeks.

He told the Washington Post: “The world is not ending‚ but the world as we know it is ending. A major part of the world will not be the same the beginning of October.”

So carry on braaing – apparently you’ve nothing to worry about .....at least for the next few weeks.