Cape Town - A Western Cape High Court judge has clarified a ruling he handed down a year ago in a case where a Robertson church leader tried to prevent three members of the congregation from being on the church board.
In his October 2021 ruling, Judge Derek Wille stopped King’s Church International (KCI) board chairperson Andrew Richards from preventing Gher Rabie, Philippus Swart and Elaine Paulsen from automatically renewing their membership of the board, as per the church’s constitution.
At the time, the court heard that KCI was a voluntary association that initially came into being under a different name but changed its name in 2009, and that the affairs of the church were governed by the initial constitution adopted in 2014.
KCI adopted a second constitution in 2017, and the three had argued that their appointments as members of the board were governed by the second constitution and as they were re-elected in September, 2019 they remained duly appointed members.
In the meantime, Richards had appointed his wife and son to the board and this was the situation the judge had to make clear.
In the latest case Rabie, Swart and Paulsen told the court the affairs of the church were “stuck”, as Richards took the position that Judge Wille’s order did not make it clear that his wife and son are not and were not members of the church board.
The three said they were seeking clarity regarding the content and meaning of the judge’s order, out of caution.
At the same time, Richards claimed the order that Judge Wille had granted in 2021 was “ambiguous and subject to misunderstanding with regard to whether Richards’s wife and son were still entitled to board membership”.
Making his ruling in the latest matter last week, Judge Wille said: “This is the third judgment I have delivered in this rather unfortunate matter, and I foresee that this will not be the last.”
In his 14-page ruling on the matter, Judge Wille said Richards’s case was premised on a misguided attempt to prevent the church carrying out its business and to frustrate Rabie, Swart and Paulsen.
“He simply refuses to accept the terms of the court orders granted in this matter going forward.”