The High Court has dismissed an urgent application by Thabo Nhleko and Joseph Dlamini seeking to stop the Africa Evangelical Church’s (AEC) Workers and Delegates Business Session, ruling that the applicants failed to establish both urgency and the necessary legal standing to bring the case.
The application that was filed on August 24 sought to interdict the church’s Workers and Delegates Business Session scheduled for yesterday. The applicants also wanted the court to prevent the respondents from holding elections or making binding decisions during the session until an interim dispute resolution process directed by the court had been exhausted. The respondents involved in the matter were Africa Evangelical Church (Pty) Ltd, Anson Dumisani Zwane, Sipho Roman Maseko and Sipho Mhlanga.
Judge Zonke Magagula dismissed the application and ordered the applicants to pay the costs jointly and severally.
The judge found that the applicants had failed to demonstrate why the matter had to be heard on an urgent basis. Nhleko said he had been alerted by an unnamed fellow church member that the Workers and Delegates Business Session would be held yesterday (August 27). However, Judge Magagula noted that Nhleko had not disclosed when he received the information.
The matter was not heard on Tuesday and it was eventually heard by Judge Magagula on Wednesday after it had been declined by the second available judge. The respondents argued that the conference was held annually around the same period and that notices had been issued to church branches as early as February 2026.
According to the respondents, once the notices were issued, they were announced to church members every Sunday. They, therefore, argued that the applicants, if they were members of the church, ought to have known since February that the conference would take place on the dates in question.
Judge Magagula said the applicants were required to explain fully why the matter was urgent and why they could not have approached the court through the ordinary procedures.
The court also criticised the applicants for relying on information allegedly received from an unnamed person. The judge said the applicants should have disclosed when they became aware of the impending conference so that the court could determine whether they had acted promptly or had made a knee-jerk reaction. He further found that the applicants appeared to rely on hearsay evidence without disclosing the source of the information or explaining why the source could not be identified.
Although Nhleko stated in his founding affidavit that he was a bona fide member, he did not attach a membership card or other proof of membership. For purposes of the application, Judge Magagula assumed in Nhleko’s favour that he was a bona fide member.
However, the judge found that this did not resolve whether the applicants had a direct and substantial interest in the matter.
“The applicants have not demonstrated that they have interests which are peculiar to them as opposed to the interests of all other members of the church,” Judge Magagula said. “I am not at all convinced that the Applicants have the necessary locus standi to bring this application,” the judge ruled.
He, therefore, found it unnecessary to consider the remaining points raised by the respondents. The application was dismissed, with costs awarded against the applicants. The applicants were represented by Simphiwe Mkhumane, while Mxolisi Dlamini appeared for the respondents.
