JOHANNESBURG - A multi-million rand church empire, allegations of a captured judge, and a new twist that threatens to unseat all contenders for the International Pentecostal Holiness Church's throne.
Jacqueline Modise, the only remaining daughter of church founder Frederick Modise, claims her father's successor, Glayton, was not his biological son.
As a result, Michael Sandlana, Tshepiso and Leonard Modise cannot claim to be the rightful heirs.
It's a sordid chapter for an institution that arose from humble beginnings. Frederick Modise founded the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1962.
His charismatic ministry saw the church rapidly balloon into one of South Africa’s largest and wealthiest denominations.
He left behind a three-million-strong congregation when he died in 1998.
Today, the church is a complete shadow of itself, split into three factions, fuelled by a bitter and bloody succession dispute.
"They claim that they are my father's grandchildren. They are not. Glayton is the son of Baby Sekano. My late mother's sister. I want this fight to end. Everyone is fighting for a stake, even those who don't have a right to claim it. I am the only heir. Sandlana is nothing to me. He is not a Modise. However, Tshepiso and Leonard, I want to ask them to take DNA tests so that we can put an end to this," Modise said.
Her nephew, Bogosi Modise, added that they need to wrap up the estate.
"We feel like it is important that the estate gets resolved. Anyone who can assist us in resolving this, if the judge can get allegedly bribed, what else is happening? We have been trying to fight this thing since 2011. It is not normal for an estate to take this long."
Modise is now pinning her hopes on the Public Protector to ensure her father's estate is finalised. Individuals claiming to belong to the Modise family lineage will be asked to undergo DNA testing. The primary goal is to build a kinship family tree and allow for the founder's estate to be wound up.