Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo revealed that forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has been under crime intelligence scrutiny for several months.

“Without follow-ups on that, he has been one of the persons of interest for a few months,” Khumalo said.

He was responding to questions from EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys, when he was giving evidence at the Ad Hoc Committee on Thursday.

The name of O’Sullivan has cropped up several times at the parliamentary inquiry, with some witnesses accusing him of having influence and conducting investigations at the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), among other things.

Pressed on when O’Sullivan became a person of interest, Khumalo said it was for a period of about 12 months.

“As I indicated earlier on today that there are people that become people of interest just because they come out of nowhere and become something. By saying for the past few months, I refer to me having been in charge of Crime Intelligence. He has been a person of interest.”

Mathys noted that O’Sullivan, in his book, claims that he has Crime Intelligence officers who were giving him information.

 “What have you done?” she asked.

In his response, Khumalo said there were lots of investigations that were going on around the subject.

“I think that is why this morning, one made a comment that talk to the culture in our country of looking at something happening, and doing nothing until it becomes a problem. Those are some of the issues one had to look at coming in the current position,” he said.

Asked what he was doing with Crime Intelligence officers O’Sullivan claimed to provide him with information, Khumalo said there was a turnaround of the division.

“It will take some time. It was weakened for a very long time.”

He said reforms were needed, as well as critical tools of trade.

“The challenges in the environment will need the working together of formal (and) different levels of the arms of state,” said Khumalo.

He added that there was a need to get the legal framework on track because there was non-existence of policy, including legal framework in the Crime Intelligence.

“Once that is done, you need proper tools in the form of personnel to implement the reforms.”

Khumalo said the division had been affected by the arrest of its senior managers and the freezing of posts for almost a year.

“The plan is there to be implemented. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.

Khumalo told the Ad Hoc Committee that there was need for consequence management to be implemented.

However, he noted that a member in the Western Cape facing serious crime had a one-month salary docked and then returned to work.

“The culture of disciplining is something we need to deal with from the top. We must have provincial heads and senior officers that are to instill discipline and consequence management will be realised.”

Khumalo confirmed that there was abuse of the Secret Fund “big time”.

He reported that there was an incident where millions were robbed or stolen in the Eastern Cape Crime Intelligence office, resulting in control measures being put in place.

“I assigned a team to do a surprise inspection and that information leaked. When the team was on the way, the commander reported a fake robbery. That commander was dismissed afterwards and criminally charged.

“There are a lot of reforms and control measures that we put in place that were not in existence,” he said, adding that there were challenges.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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