Supporters of Mike Sandlana, leader of one of the three warring factions of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), who is accused of bribing a high court judge, became rowdy on Wednesday after hearing that their “comforter” might spend Christmas and New Year’s Day behind bars.
Sandlana leads the Jerusalema faction of the church and was expected to bring a formal bail application on Wednesday in the Pretoria specialised commercial court. However, his lawyer, adv Mike Hellens SC, told the court that they hadn’t gathered all the necessary facts to make a bail application.
Sandlana was arrested last week on allegations that he had bribed a Pretoria high court judge, Portia Phahlane, to give a favourable outcome in the legal battle for control of the IPHC church.
After submissions by his legal team, the state asked the court to postpone the matter to March 6 2026 for it to be joined with the matter of Sandlana’s co-accused, church spokesperson Vusi Ndala, judge Phahlane and her son Kagiso.
They have already been released on bail.
Sandlana is still in custody, as the state opposed his bail application, saying his bodyguards had allegedly assaulted police officers when they arrested him.
His supporters, who came out in numbers to support him, were angry on hearing that his bail application hearing would not proceed. They blocked off traffic on Visagie Street.
“We want Tau, we are not leaving without Tau,” the crowd chanted.
Police remained on site monitoring the situation, and some among the group tried to calm the crowd.
According to the state, Sandlana is facing 19 counts of corruption wherein he allegedly offered bribes to Phahlane who presided over the controversial legal battle for control of the IPHC church for a favourable outcome.
A member of the church, Mighty Mabule, said they did not want to comment on the allegations as the matter was before court.
He said members from different areas and provinces had come out to support their “father”.
“We just want to humbly say to the authorities that let justice prevail. We will actually wait. We are just waiting for the whole process to be completed. There’s not much that we can say because this is part of the court processes,” he said.
Describing Sandlana as not only the leader of the IPHC members, he said he is also leader of many communities.
Mabule said there was no longer a succession battle.
The church has been embroiled in a fight since the death of its leader, Bishop Glayton Modise, in 2016. He had inherited the seat from his late father and the founder of the church, Frederick Samuel Modise.
The battle for the new leader led to conflict between the Modise brothers, Tshepiso and Leonard, which created factions and war within the church. Another contender was Sandlana, who also claims to be the biological son of Glayton, whose faction believes he should run the church.
The three factions that emerged are the Jerusalema faction led by Sandlana which is situated in Oskraal village, outside Brits, the Leonard Modise faction, which is at church headquarters in Zuurbekom and the Tshepiso Modise faction, based on the East Rand.
In July 2023, brothers Leonard and Tshepiso, who had clashed but are now united, withdrew from the succession dispute.
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