ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says the party is not apologetic for standing in support of the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

Mashaba was responding to forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan, who accused the party of misleading the public for supporting Mkhwanazi without having any knowledge of his hidden history.

This was after Mkhwanazi last month alleged that the country’s criminal justice system has been infiltrated by criminal syndicates.

He made these remarks during a media briefing where he claimed that Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has connections to members of a crime syndicate.

Mkhwanazi also accused some senior police officials of being involved in corruption. 

O’Sullivan said he was certain that Mkhwanazi has allegedly been involved in serious organised crime for a long time and has somehow managed to stay below the radar.

He said ActionSA’s support for Mkhwanazi has merely served to embolden his criminal conduct. 

Mashaba said the party advised him to exercise his constitutional right if he felt the party violated his rights by supporting Mkhwanazi. 

“ActionSA is unapologetic for our support of General Mkhwanazi’s allegations to be investigated. If Paul O’Sullivan has something on General Mkhwanazi, we invite him to provide it to the law enforcement agencies, instead of threatening us,” said Mashaba.

On Monday, the party’s parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, laid criminal charges against O’Sullivan for threatening him. 

Trollip said O’Sullivan sent the threatening messages via WhatsApp. 

He said these messages were not only personal attacks, but also interfered with his work as an elected official in Parliament.

He described O’Sullivan’s actions as a direct assault on democracy and said such behaviour must face legal consequences to protect public representatives.

This was after Trollip posted on his X account that he wants to know how O’Sullivan has inveigled his way into the safety and security system and who appointed him the spokesperson for the SAPS or police commissioner at large, adding that his comments and insinuations were frankly alarming. 

Responding via WhatsApp last week, O’Sullivan said: “I have been looking at your misinformed attacks on me on social media because someone forwarded them to me. You are clearly an arrogant fool who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. Mkhwanazi is one of the biggest criminals that ever wore a police uniform; his crimes, when they are finally exposed, will shock the nation.

“Best part is, unlike you, you are in receipt of my taxpayer rand. I don’t get a single cent, then he said you attacked me personally on social media as if you’re Mkhwanazi’s right-hand man, which means that you must be supporting his criminal conduct. Either that, you are far too stupid to know a criminal when you see one,” the message read.

O’Sullivan added that: “As a result of your patently criminal conduct in aiding and abetting Mkhwanazi, you are now on my radar. When I’m done with Mkhwanazi and Masemola, I am going to take you on.”

O’Sullivan said he would take the ActionSA on as well and expose the party for being involved with a “criminal like Trollip”.

Responding to the messages, Trollip said: “If you think these are public attacks, you must have a very thin skin, especially for one who seeks the public limelight. As for supporting Mkhwanazi, let alone aiding and abetting him, you clearly haven’t read the meaning of what I said in my posts that you are complaining about. 

“But one thing is for sure is that you’ve now threatened me and called me a criminal, which is clearly your modus operandi.”

Speaking to the media, Trollip said he was simply doing his job as a public representative and member of Parliament, adding that he was calling for the allegations, both O’Sullivan’s and Mkhwanazi’s, to be investigated. 

He said O’Sullivan also threatened Mashaba, saying he would tell everyone he knows not to support ActionSA.

O’ Sullivan, who claimed that he donated and prompted others to make donations when the party was established in 2020, wrote an email informing Mashaba and the party’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, that he dissociated himself from ActionSA.

He added that he would warn the public not to vote for the party or make donations because it cannot be trusted. 

However, Mashaba said this is something that should not worry ActionSA and its members. 

“We are not going to lose any sleep as a result. We advised him to exercise his constitutional rights if ever he feels ActionSA violates his rights by supporting Mkhwanazi,” he said. 

In his affidavit, O’Sullivan said his comments were about exposing wrongdoing in the police service, not personal vendettas.

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za

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