- The national executive council, which was elected in September 2019 and confirmed in March 2022, was declared the church’s only legitimate leadership.
- The judge found that the two retired founders had no authority when they took over the church’s offices and conference centre.
- The respondents were barred from interfering in church affairs, ordered to give up the occupied premises, and told to pay legal costs.
A dispute over who should run Emmanuel Assemblies, a church founded in 1978, ended up in the High Court in Polokwane after two founding members challenged the authority of the elected national executive council.
What started as a disagreement over registering the church as a non-profit organisation turned into a fight for control of its leadership and property. The dispute also exposed divisions in the congregation. Rival groups put forward competing claims about who had the authority to lead the church.
Disagreement over NPO registration
The conflict began at the church’s annual general conference on 24 September 2019, when members were told that Emmanuel Assemblies had been registered as a non-profit organisation after a decision by its national executive council.
The decision split the congregation. RM Mabitsela and MA Seale, both founding members, objected because the registration had not been approved by the whole congregation or by a majority vote. The executive council said the registration was an administrative matter and did not need a separate vote.
Attempts to resolve the disagreement through meetings and mediation failed. The respondents then organised a group called the Remnant Founders and started asking other congregants to join them.
On 17 October 2022, they sent out a letter inviting members to a special conference set for 5 November 2022. Later, they announced the executive committee had been dissolved and an interim committee elected.
The church challenged these decisions, arguing that the alternative committee had not been elected at an annual general conference or nominated according to its constitution.
The respondents and their group then took over the church’s conference centre and national offices, changed the locks, and blocked the elected executive council from doing its job.
Mabitsela had retired years earlier, and Seale stepped down in 2013. The church argued that neither had the authority to call meetings or make decisions for the church.
Respondents accuse executive of mismanagement
In response, the respondents accused the executive council of mismanaging finances and other wrongdoing. They also challenged the registration of the church as an NPO, saying it had not been approved by the annual general conference.
They said the executive council had not shared the NPO registration certificate, despite several requests. They also pointed to a financial report that showed a deficit of R735 096.41 between October 2020 and February 2022. The respondents said a general conference on 4 October 2022 gave the executive committee 30 days before it would be officially dissolved.
According to them, the committee was disbanded on 5 November 2022 after its members did not attend the meeting, and a nine-member interim committee was elected. They argued that retiring did not affect their standing as founding members of Emmanuel Assemblies.
Judge rules against retired founders
In a judgment on 3 November 2026, Judge M Naudè-Odendaal dismissed two preliminary objections about the authority of the person who started the case and the attorneys representing the church.
The judge said the respondents had not used Rule 7(1) of the Uniform Rules of Court to formally challenge the attorneys’ authority to act for the church.
Moving to the main case, Judge Naudè-Odendaal found that the respondents had no authority and took the law into their own hands by taking over the church.
The judge rejected their argument that being founders gave them authority, noting that they had resigned and were no longer on the executive council. Being unhappy with how the church had changed since it was founded did not give them the right to take over.
The judgment said the respondents wanted to take control of the organisation because they were its original founders. Judge Naudè-Odendaal rejected that idea, saying: “This can never be.”
The judge found that the requirements for a final interdict were met. There was a clear right, an actual or likely injury, and no good alternative remedy.
The court declared that the national executive council elected at the September 2019 conference and confirmed on 23 March 2022 was the only valid and legal national executive council of Emmanuel Assemblies.
The respondents were barred from interfering in the church’s affairs, disrupting conference meetings or church services, or encouraging others to interfere in its operations.
They were also told to immediately give back the conference centre, national offices, and any other premises belonging to the executive council. The respondents must pay the church’s legal costs jointly and severally on Scale C.
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