Johannesburg - The Hawks Hawks are investigating controversial IPHC Jerusalem faction leader Michael Sandlana following damning allegations by attorney Papi Maluleke.
Sandlana is said to have masterminded the attack on the church’s headquarters in Zuurbekom on July 11, 2020.
As the second-biggest church in Gauteng gears up for its Good Friday event next week, the leader of the church’s Jerusalem faction is fighting fires all around. Maluleke has made startling allegations about an attack on worshippers at the church’s Silo headquarters.
In an affidavit to police, Maluleke said Sandlana was behind the attack that left 10 worshippers dead and hundreds injured.
Maluleke has provided a “detailed exposé” of how Sandlana planned an attack that saw the once peaceful church under a hail of bullets.
Sandlana was previously accused of lying about being the son of the church’s deceased leader, MG Modise. While it was previously believed that Modise had a will that nominated Sandlana as heir and leader of the church, it was later found that Modise had only four children, two male and two female, and none of them was named Michael Sandlana.
It is believed that after Modise’s death, the church was without a leader, spurring Sandlana to claim that he had a will and DVD of Modise announcing him as the successor of the R300million estate and church.
It later came to light that the will and DVD did not exist.
“Our comforter had only two sons, Tshepo and Leonard. Leonard was named after Frederick Leonard Modise, the church’s founder. I’ve been a member of this church for 35 years, and I did not know Sandlana to be the comforter’s son.
“I know Mike from the church. I was surprised when he became our leader. Leonard ‘Jakobo’ is our comforter. There is a lot of gangsterism in our church now. I hope that God will help us,” a member of the church told The Star.
In what could be described as a massacre, armed men entered the IPHC headquarters on July 11, 2020, killing many people. Police reported that they found bodies burnt in a car, while a fifth man was shot at close range.
Police recovered 68 firearms that day. A total of 42 people were arrested, but the National Prosecuting Authority withdrew the charges in January last year.
Last week, The Star reported that Sandlana’s wife, Benedicta, was living in fear after several death threats.
Sandlana was arrested and released on bail, along with those alleged to have assisted him.
Benedicta opened a fraud case with Alberton police when she allegedly found out that the ownership of her Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which was previously registered in her name, had been changed.
Attempts by The Star to get comment from church spokesperson Vusi Ndala were unsuccessful by the time of publication.
The Star