WATCH | Judge denies taking R2m bribe in IPHC case

Portia Phahlane, the Pretoria high court judge at the centre of a bribery scandal involving the International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC) succession battle, was allegedly promised a house and R2m was then deposited into a trust account of a conveyancer.

Phahlane, who is the judge in the litigation between three factions of the church over its leadership, is accused of accepting money for the court to rule in favour of Michael Sandlana, who leads one of the factions in the litigation.

R2m was then deposited into a trust account of a conveyancer for a property worth R6.5m in Hartbeespoort in June 2022 from Songo, a company owned by Phuthi which pays legal fees and security services for and on behalf of the IPHC.

—  Adv Willem van Zyl, prosecutor

This is what the state revealed at the Pretoria serious commercial crimes court on Wednesday, where Phahlane, 57, appeared with her son Kagiso Phahlane and spokesperson of the church Vusi Ndala, as well as Sandlana.

Accused number one, Tshepo Phuthi, is allegedly evading arrest.

The prosecutor, Adv Willem van Zyl, said investigations revealed that several meetings were held over the matter.

He said the meetings were facilitated by an interpreter of the high court who is a member of the church and also received gratification of about R179,000 made on several occasions, either when she collected money for Phahlane or during meetings.

“In one of the meetings, Sandlana proposed to Phahlane that he would get her a house, to which Phahlane accepted the offer.

“R2m was then deposited into a trust account of a conveyancer for a property worth R6.5m in Hartbeespoort in June 2022 from Songo, a company owned by Phuthi which pays legal fees and security services for and on behalf of the IPHC,” said Van Zyl.

Phahlane has denied charges against her and said she intends to plead not guilty.

In her affidavit, which was read by her lawyer representative Piet du Plessis, Phahlane said she considers the charges against her as a personal vendetta by the parties involved in the succession battle within the church.

“During the course of the said trial, I was personally targeted with allegations against me of corruption and an application for my recusal which I refused. This led to various threats against my life as a result of which I laid formal complaints with the South African Police Services,” read her affidavit.

Phahlane was granted R50,000 bail. As part of her bail conditions, she was prohibited from entering the Pretoria high court and the Palace of Justice court. Her son and Ndala were both given R10,000 bail. The matter was postponed to March 6 2026.

Sandlana’s bail application was postponed to December 3. Van Zyl said the state will oppose bail because during his arrest, his bodyguards badly assaulted three police officers who had to be taken to hospital.

Sowetan