By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption: Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan testifies before the parliamentary ad hoc committee inquiry into alleged corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system. (Brenton Geach).
The controversial forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan rejected allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and accused him of misleading both the public and parliament.
Mkhwanazi during his July 6 media briefing, he made allegations of infiltration in the criminal justice system by syndicates.
Parliament’s ad hoc committee is running parallel to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating the same accusations of criminal infiltration into law enforcement. Both hearings are in response to Mkhwanazi’s claims.
O’Sullivan began testifying before the ad hoc committee on Tuesday, during which he insisted that he was not a foreign agent and had never worked with intelligence agencies in South Africa.
But ad hoc committee members appeared unconvinced when weighing this up against his extensive background.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, MPs had a chance to ask O’Sullivan questions, and at one stage EFF leader Julius Malema asked him where his money came from.
Malema said he suspected O’Sullivan was paid by military intelligence, presumably in the UK, to appear to be a property investor in other countries, including South Africa.
O’Sullivan replied that it seemed as if Malema was watching too much television.
O’Sullivan, though, is of the opinion that Mkhwanazi made the accusations to distract the public from other massive internal state problems.
There are now two main narratives about the policing scandal – that Mkhwanazi’s allegations are masking Crime Intelligence slush fund looting, or that this idea is part of a campaign to discredit him and his legitimate accusations.
O’Sullivan, referring to the Crime Intelligence slush fund, said there were many corrupt individuals with badges. He warned, “If it’s not stopped, this country will go into a decline that it’ll never recover from.”
The slush fund, O’Sullivan said, was meant for paying informers.
In his affidavit to the ad hoc committee, O’Sullivan said that Mkhwanazi did not explain how the slush fund was managed in KwaZulu-Natal, or how he paid the informers that he claimed to have.
“If the committee wants to get to the bottom of the root of all evil in the police, it needs to start with the slush fund, by stopping the wanton theft of millions of rands every year, which is stolen in secret and spent in secret, with zero accountability and has police officials fighting amongst themselves to get their grubby hands on the slush fund cash,” O’Sullivan’s affidavit said.
“For them, it’s not about fighting crime, it’s about getting their hands on taxpayer funds, to substantially improve their lives and the lives of their families.”
He described the slush fund as proverbial “manna from heaven” to criminals.
ActionSA’s Dereleen James said that she had documents from 2007 showing that O’Sullivan had been paid R100,000 from the Crime Intelligence slush fund. (It turned out, though, that this was from the Scorpions, which fell under the National Prosecuting Authority.)
“You, too, have benefited from the ‘manna of heaven’,” she told him. O’Sullivan replied: “Not true.”
James said she had “brought receipts” to back up what she was saying.
The documents included a March 2007 internal Scorpions memorandum about a “reward” or “reimbursement” for O’Sullivan.
These said that in 2005, O’Sullivan won over the trust of a drug syndicate member who deposed an affidavit.
Wednesday’s proceedings stretched into the evening when O’Sullivan said he was in serious pain due to spinal issues, the result of a shooting related to crimefighting work.
He wanted to press on and finish his time before the committee, but it was ultimately decided he would be called back at a later stage so that MPs could complete his questioning.
Following consultations among Members of Parliament, committee chairperson, Soviet Lekganyane, adjourned the sitting.
“We have established a very good relationship with the witness over the two days he has been with us, and that relationship has been cemented. I am confident that the engagements we have had with you will continue, and that we will find a suitable date that is comfortable for all of us, “Lekganyane said.
A new date will be arranged in consultation with O’Sullivan’s legal team. O’Sullivan indicated he would be travelling overseas for business commitments.
The ad hoc committee is probing allegations of interference, corruption and misconduct within the South African Police Service and the broader law enforcement apparatus.