ZION Christian Church leader Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane has been ordered to make himself available for DNA tests to settle the paternity of a man claiming to be his son.

ZION Christian Church leader Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane has been ordered to make himself available for DNA tests to settle the paternity of a man claiming to be his son.

In May Sowetan reported that a Soweto man calling himself Tshepo Barnabas Edward Lekganyane Jnr was suing Lekganyane for R50000 a month in maintenance.

Amelia Lerata, of Orange Farm in the Vaal, who says she is Lekganyane Jnr's mother, dismissed the claim saying he must be having "mental problems" because she knew nothing about the maintenance case.

This led the church to condemn Sowetan for "ignoring Lerata's claims".

After weeks of bickering, Lekganyane sent a church elder, Emmanuel Motolla, to represent him in the Johannesburg family court. Senior magistrate Daniel Thulare issued a summons in May ordering Lekganyane to appear in court yesterday .

Motolla and Lekganyane Jnr met prosecutor Rene Botha, where it was agreed that DNA tests should be conducted later this month.

Lekganyane Jnr said Lerata raised him but insisted that his biological mother was Elizabeth, who was Lekganyane's first wife.