Mike Sandlana the leader of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church’s (IPHC) Jerusalema faction in Brits, North West embroiled in a scandal relating to the alleged bribing of a judge will spend more time in custody.
His lawyer, advocate Mike Hellens SC, told the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court yesterday that they had not gathered all the necessary facts to make a bail application.
Sandlana and his spokesperson, Vusi Ndala, were arrested last week together with Pretoria high court judge Portia Phahlane, who presided over the controversial legal battle for control of the church.
Phahlane’s son Kagiso was also arrested.
Sandlana allegedly offered bribes to Phahlane in exchange for delivering a favourable judgment in a succession dispute involving three men in the wealthy church.
Yesterday a group of Sandlana’s supporters, some in church regalia, stood outside court to support him.
“Police on payroll to intimidate and harass us” one placard read. “The state is corrupt” read another.
Sandlana, wearing a grey suit, walked into court wearing a face mask.
The IPHC was established in 1962 by wealthy Soweto undertaker Frederick Samuel Modise. When his son Bishop Glayton Modise died in 2016, the church had 350 branches and more than 3-million members in Southern Africa.
The Modise brothers, Tshepiso and Leonard, feuded over control which created factions and war within the church. Another contender was Sandlana, whose faction believed he should have been running the church. The dispute resulted in civil litigation in the Pretoria high court.
Phahlane, who presided over the controversial legal battle for control of the church, was granted bail of R50,000 last week. Her son Kagiso and Ndala were granted bail of R10,000 each.
It is unclear at this stage when or if a formal bail application for Sandlana will be brought to court.
The main case is due to resume on March 6 2026.
All four accused are collectively facing 19 counts of corruption. It is alleged that between 2021 and 2022, Ndala and Sandlana made payments of about R2.4m on different occasions to different banking accounts, to and for the benefit of Judge Phahlane, for her to preside over Sandlana’s ongoing civil case at the high court and ultimately rule in his favour.
TimesLIVE
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