The Pretoria specialised crimes court has described church leader Mike Sandlana, who is accused of bribing a judge, as someone who displayed a wanton disregard for the law.
The court on Monday denied bail for Sandlana, the leader of one of the factions of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC).
Sandlana had tried to launch an urgent bail application at the high court while his bail application was still pending in the lower court.
The church leader is accused of bribing high court judge Portia Phahlane to deliver a favourable judgment in a succession dispute involving three men in the wealthy church.
Sandlana and his spokesperson, Vusi Ndala, were arrested in November with Phahlane, who presided over the controversial legal succession battle for control of the IPHC.
Phahlane’s son Kagiso was also arrested and was granted bail with his mother and Ndala.
All four accused are collectively facing 19 counts of corruption.
Giving reasons for denying Sandlana bail, magistrate Nica Setshoga said affidavits had been presented by people indicating that threats had been made against them.
Sandlana was also like to pose a flight risk, she said.
Sandlana is likely to remain behind bars during the festive season.
The court found Sandlana failed to discharge the onus placed on him to show the court on a balance of probabilities that the interest of justice permits his release.
Dressed neatly in a suit, with a surgical mask covering his mouth and nose, Sandlana stared ahead as the magistrate read out her judgment.
Outside the court, his supporters braved the rain, lining Visagie Street, some holding umbrellas as they waited for the verdict.
The state opposed his release on bail, citing many reasons, including that he would intimidate witnesses, and had allegedly presented fraudulent identity documents to the court.
The court also heard that Sandlana had attempted to make an urgent application to the Pretoria high court on December 1 to be released from custody due to medical reasons, despite his initial pending scheduled bail application in the lower court.
Sandlana initially abandoned his bail application in the specialised commercial crimes court on December 3, with his lawyers stating that they were not ready to proceed.
In his bail application, Sandlana said he suffered from multiple chronic illnesses, which he said could not be properly treated while incarcerated. He also claimed that his health was deteriorating due to prison conditions.
He presented a medical report from a private doctor to support this claim, which suggested he had what seemed like an asthma attack while in prison.
However, the state told the court that Sandlana had secured the biased support of an alleged family doctor, Aluwani Sabata, who is also a loyal church follower, to exaggerate and overstate his medical condition to get sympathy from the court.
An independent medical practitioner could not find any of the claims made by Sandlana’s doctor.
He had also provided different addresses in his different court applications and or affidavits, and also allegedly lied about his whereabouts when police wanted to effect an arrest.
To this end, Setshoga said Sandlana was not a suitable candidate for bail.
The matter has been postponed to March 6 2026 for it to be joined with the matter of his co-accused, who are all out on bail, and also for further investigation.
TimesLIVE
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