“Breaking the Lock Is Not Possessing the Building”: A Denomination Loses Its Appeal Bid in a Church Lockout

• The Western Cape High Court refused the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) leave to appeal an order over a church building.
• An August 21 order had required the AFM and Sebastian Lucas to return the keys to Building C within 48 hours.
• The order restored possession to Pastors Japie and Susan La Poorta.
• Separate eviction proceedings are still pending, and ownership has not yet been decided.

A South African denomination that locked a pastor couple out of a building has been refused permission to appeal an order giving them the keys back. IOL reported that the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) lost its bid to appeal the church lockout ruling.

The dispute involves the AFM, Sebastian Lucas, Pastors Japie and Susan La Poorta, and the Susan La Poorta Children’s Home, which is a separate legal entity. On August 21 the court made an urgent order requiring the AFM and Lucas to return complete keys to a property known as Building C within 48 hours, restoring the La Poortas’ possession.

The AFM argued that the couple held keys only as employees or trustees, not as possessors entitled to have possession restored. Judge Da Silva Salie rejected that argument and dismissed the application for leave to appeal, ordering the AFM and Lucas to pay the costs jointly and severally. The judge said: “Having the ability to break/remove the lock to get in is not the same as already possessing the building.”

The ruling does not decide who is ultimately entitled to the building. Separate eviction proceedings are still pending.

The case separates two questions that are easily confused: who owns a building and who is in possession of it. Courts generally expect an owner to use the proper legal process to recover possession rather than change the locks. The same principle is worth remembering in Jamaica, whether the dispute is between a denomination and a local congregation, a church and a pastor living in a manse, or a landlord and a tenant. Anyone who owns property here and is thinking of taking back a building should get legal advice first. Acting alone can make even a strong case weaker.

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