The Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations against KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi will have to reschedule the testimony of forensic fraud examiner Paul O’Sullivan, after he was unable to continue due to health issues.

On Wednesday night, O’Sullivan expressed his inability to proceed, citing severe pain. “Sorry, I just can’t go on any longer. I’m in too much pain,” he remarked, prompting the committee to consider an alternative date for his testimony.

O’Sullivan had on Tuesday asked that his testimony not extend beyond 7pm after his long haul flight to South Africa and spending the whole night in preparation for his testimony.

At 70 years old, the veteran investigator noted his spinal problems and expressed his reservations about giving evidence while lying down. “I have medical issues that need to be dealt with. I am not the spring chicken that I used to be,” he stated.

The testimony unfolded with tensions as O’Sullivan requested not to disclose details surrounding his background or business interest in South Africa prior to 1990, expressing concerns for his and his family’s safety.

EFF leader Julius Malema challenged him, asserting that he must answer all questions posed.

Committee chair Soviet Lekganyane ruled that any question could be asked, unless it compromised O’Sullivan’s or his family’s security.

“We have been amenable as the committee to information like that. We can decide to create a platform to share it if it does not have to be public,” said Lekganyane.

O’Sullivan, born in England to Irish parents, confirmed that he holds citizenship in three countries – South Africa, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. His background includes a service record with the British army and military intelligence, where he engaged in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism in the 1970s.

“I have been in this country for 40 years. I can categorically state that I have not performed any foreign agent activities over those 40 years. My loyalty is to South Africa,” he said.

However, O’Sullivan categorically denied working for any foreign intelligence agencies or infiltrating the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), dismissing such claims as “blatant lies”.

“I have not infiltrated IPID. I opened a docket against (former acting national commissioner Khomotso) Phahlane in February 2016,” he said.

O’Sullivan disclosed that the only work he did in the investigation into Phahlane was between February 2016 and the period IPID decided to carry on with the investigation.

In the course of his testimony, O’Sullivan disclosed his financial support of R200,000 towards the legal fees of former IPID head Robert McBride.

He dismissed the allegation that he targeted Phahlane in his investigation because he had wanted McBride to become the next national commissioner.

“That is a false narrative of both Phahlane and (Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff Cedrick) Nkabinde.”

In his testimony, O’Sullivan questioned why Mkhwanazi was silent about rampant criminal activity within the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

He claimed that he had been anonymously supplied with affidavits by four members of the PKTT that they received gratification while investigating the University of Fort Hare.

O’Sullivan also sought to implicate Mkhwanazi to the Slush Fund and suggested that he had downplayed the role of the Crime Intelligence.

He noted that Mkhwanazi had during his testimony before the Madlanga Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee, repeatedly talked about informers supplying him with information.

“I cannot understand how General Mkhwanazi claimed in the Madlanga Commission and in Parliament that he was managing informers.”

He urged the committee to dig into the malfeasance within Crime Intelligence.

The atmosphere shifted when ActionSA MP Dereleen James accused O’Sullivan of benefiting from the Secret Services Account, presenting documents that allegedly indicated he had received R100,000 from the so-called Slush Fund related to the case of convicted fugitive Radovan Krejcir.

In response, O’Sullivan clarified that the money was reimbursement for expenses incurred under the now-defunct Scorpions.

In his response, O’Sullivan claimed that the money did not come from the Slush Fund, but the now-defunct Scorpions.

O’Sullivan stated that he was reimbursed for expenses incurred at the request of the Directorate of Special Operations, which was previously known as the Scorpions.

The parliamentary inquiry heard how O’Sullivan came to the country as a tourist and became interested in property investment, became a police reservist and the head of security at Airport Company South Africa.

It emerged during his evidence that he had sought a work permit in 1982 and that a letter by a former MP DW Watterson, to then director-general of Internal Affairs at the time mentioned that former security police officer Jim Powell offered him employment when he was seeking work permit in the 1982.

When Malema insinuated that O’Sullivan might have been covertly paid by military intelligence to appear as a property investor, O’Sullivan challenged the red berets leader, saying he watched too much television and was speculating.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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