Gauteng High Court Judge Arrested on Corruption Charges
Gauteng High Court Judge Portia Phahlane has been arrested on corruption charges, accused of accepting bribes exceeding R2 million to rule in favour of one faction in the International Pentecost Holiness Church's (IPHC) succession battle. Phahlane, appointed to the Bench in 2021, was apprehended on Tuesday evening in Gauteng, along with her son. Michael Sandlana and Vusi Ndala, accused of paying the judge kickbacks, were also arrested on Wednesday morning.
Insiders close to the investigation confirmed to News24 that the arrest relates to alleged payments received for favourable rulings in the IPHC succession battle.
The IPHC, established in the 1960s by Frederick Modise, became embroiled in intense legal disputes following the death of his son, Glayton Modise, in 2016. This event triggered a power struggle to determine who would succeed him as the church's "comforter".
Three factions emerged, vying for leadership. These included two of Modise's sons, Tshepiso and Leonard, who were competing against each other, and a third contender, Michael Sandlana, who also claimed to be Modise's biological son.
According to sources involved in the investigation, the faction led by Sandlana allegedly made several payments to Phahlane after being introduced by a court interpreter. Some of these payments were reportedly made in cash during clandestine meetings with the judge. Additionally, a R2 million payment was allegedly directed towards a multimillion-rand property that Phahlane was in the process of purchasing in 2022.
Vusi Ndala, identified as a spokesperson for one of the church factions, was also taken into custody.
Before the IPHC succession case was scheduled for trial in February 2023, Leonard Modise lodged a recusal application against Phahlane, alleging that Sandlana had bribed the judge to secure favourable rulings. The trial did not proceed as planned, as the brothers ultimately withdrew their application, despite continuing to dispute Sandlana's legitimacy as the rightful successor.
In a judgment dismissing the recusal application in March 2023, Phahlane stated that Sandlana's attorney, the alleged originator of the bribery claims, had distanced himself from the allegations.
The recusal application was based on an affidavit from an advocate, Goodwill Maluleke, who claimed that Sandlana's attorney, Sifiso Twala, had informed him about the bribe in November 2021.
Phahlane addressed the timeline of the allegations in her judgment, stating, "… Mr Leonard Modise relies on an affidavit of Mr Maluleke who has perjured himself because it is inconceivable that in November 2021, when nobody knew that I would be sitting in this matter, and even before a letter was addressed to the [deputy judge president] on 18 March 2022 to allocate a case management judge, that Mr Twala would have met with M. Maluleke and told him that I have been sanitised."
She emphasised that the bribery allegations predated her involvement in the case, as the matter was only assigned to her in May 2022.
Phahlane criticised the legal practitioners for submitting the application, stating, "the patent anomalies, which ought to have been realised and which would have been apparent to any careful legal practitioner, it seems to me that the practitioners have failed to give proper attention and either made common cause with a case for their client and lost their independence to act in a professional manner, alternatively failed to act in a professional manner in the best interests of Mr Leornard Modise." She also referred the judgment to the Legal Practice Council (LPC) for investigation.
During her involvement in the IPHC matter, Phahlane also received death threats, necessitating the provision of bodyguards.
In February 2023, News24 reported that Phahlane had received "telephonic death threats on a number of occasions," according to the Office of the Chief Justice. It was confirmed that she had been assigned a security detail, and a criminal case had been opened.
Phahlane's bodyguards became a common sight in courtrooms. They were present in 2025 when she presided over the Hugo Ferreria matter, a case involving the rape and murder of an 8-day-old baby. In April, Phahlane sentenced Ferreria to two life imprisonment terms after he pleaded guilty.
In 2025, Phahlane also presided over the murder case of Jaco Kemp, Gert van der Westhuizen, and Louis Coetzee, who allegedly beat Dumisani Phakathi to death on a farm in the North West in September 2016. She is scheduled to deliver judgment in that case in February next year.
Alison Tilley, a coordinator at the civil society group Judges Matter, expressed her shock at the arrest.
"While the judge is innocent until proven guilty by criminal law standards, the extreme seriousness of the allegations requires the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to act urgently to place the judge on suspension, even at this early stage. Any delay would cause irreparable damage to the reputation of the judiciary."
Judges Matter issued a statement on Wednesday, urging the Judicial Service Commission to "urgently advise the president to place her on suspension."
The statement further explained that the JSC Act requires the JSC to consider the appointment of a Judicial Conduct Tribunal and advise the president to suspend a judge "when a formal complaint has been filed on affidavit, and a Judicial Conduct Committee has considered the complaint and recommended the appointment of a tribunal. This is the ordinary route for most complaints."
Phahlane is expected to appear in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court alongside her co-accused on Wednesday morning.
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