Sodwana Bay man André Slade’s high court bid against the Roman Catholic Church was over almost as soon as it began.
Judge Mokgere Masipa in the Durban High Court on Tuesday dismissed the beleaguered guest house owner’s case due to issues around his affidavit and her jurisdiction.
“The Roman Catholic Church is in the Vatican,” Judge Masipa said to Slade, who was representing himself. “Shouldn’t you be there?”
He replied that it was “impossible to reach the pope”.
“You sit there representing the Vatican,” he said.
“I am here representing the law,” the judge replied.
Slade and his Slovakian wife, Katarina Krizaniova, had listed the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier as respondents in their case.
They were seeking an order that “the liberty granted to Roman Curia to set foot on land in South Africa be revoked” because of “blasphemy, crimes against humanity, murder, perjury and prejudice”.
In Slade’s founding affidavit – which the judge said did not comply with the rules of the court because it was deposed by himself and Krizaniova as well as “Yahshuah”, another name for Jesus Christ and who Slade also claimed to be – he made various claims against the church, including that it had been on a “deliberate crusade of deception against humanity”.
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He relied heavily on quotes from the Bible to support his claims and made homophobic and racist remarks.
Slade said South Africa was “the model country for gay and crossed marriages, backed by the Democratic Alliance” and that this was proof of the church’s “short-sighted defiance of God’s laws”.
He also said the “beast” referred to in the book of Leviticus “describes the black kind, not four-legged animals”.
“Only God’s people may rule and they have blue eyes,” Slade said.
He was accompanied on Tuesday by Krizaniova, who had until recently been in jail for being in the country illegally.
Cardinal Napier – represented by his attorney, Aidan Fayle of Goodrickes Attorneys, and advocate Adrian Collingwood – opposed the application Tuesday.
In court, Collingwood said there were various defects in the application and that Slade was “trying to raise doctrinal issues”.
Slade asked Judge Masipa to refer the case to “an institution that could deal with it”.
But she refused and also ordered him to pay the costs of the application.
Last June, Slade came under fire after a Durban woman, Sizakele Msimango, received an e-mail from Slade which said: “We do not accommodate blacks or government employees any longer.”
He is now being taken to the Equality Court to answer for his remarks. He is also being investigated for the murder of his unarmed black neighbour.