By Johnathan Paoli
Gauteng High Court Judge Portia Phahlane, a prominent church leader linked to the International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC), and two others have been arrested in a dramatic development that has sent shockwaves through legal and religious sectors.
The Directorate of Priority Crimes (Hawks) confirmed late on Tuesday that the arrests stem from an investigation into alleged attempts to improperly influence a civil case before the Pretoria High Court.
Phahlane, appointed to the bench in 2021, was taken into custody alongside her son.
The third and fourth suspects, Michael Sandlana and Vusi Ndala, have also been arrested.
Sandlana, long identified as one of the claimants in the IPHC’s bitter succession dispute, is also facing separate fraud and murder allegations.
The latest charges relate to allegations that Phahlane received more than R2 million in bribes in exchange for delivering favourable rulings in the long-running battle for leadership of the IPHC.
As reported by News24, investigators say the judge allegedly accepted cash during clandestine meetings, while a substantial portion of the kickbacks, around R2 million, was used towards the purchase of a multimillion-rand property in 2022.
The unfolding scandal marks an extraordinary turn in a case that has gripped both the religious and legal fraternity for years.
The IPHC, founded by Frederick Modise in the 1960s, became the centre of an intense and often violent succession battle after the death of Modise’s son, Glayton, in 2016.
Three factions — led by Glayton’s sons Tshepiso, Leonard, and a third led by Sandlana, who claims to be Modise’s biological child — have clashed in court, on church grounds, and in public statements.
It is alleged that the faction aligned to Sandlana channelled payments to Phahlane after being introduced to her through a court interpreter.
These payments allegedly continued while she presided over key applications related to the succession dispute.
The IPHC case was set down for trial in February 2023, but the Modise brothers ultimately withdrew their application, though they continued to contest Sandlana’s claim to the comforter title.
Before the matter collapsed, Leonard Modise lodged a recusal application accusing Phahlane of being bribed.
In a strongly worded judgment dismissing the application in March 2023, Phahlane branded the allegations factually impossible, arguing that the case had not even been allocated to her at the time the alleged bribes were said to have occurred.
She went further, criticising the legal practitioners involved for what she called patent anomalies and referred the matter to the Legal Practice Council.
Phahlane is expected to appear in the dock of the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court alongside her co-accused on Wednesday morning.
This is a developing story.
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