By Lehlohonolo Lehana
Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan filed a R10-million counterclaim at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, against KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
In his court papers, he accuses Mkhwanazi of making several false and defamatory statements against him at the Madlanga commission of Inquiry and parliamentary ad hoc committee.
On September 19, during the Madlanga commission, Mkhwanazi alleged that O’Sullivan was under investigation for unspecified crimes in KwaZulu-Natal.
O’Sullivan was previously linked to the Mkhwanazi accusations scandal when it emerged that he had been involved in opening dockets against Crime Intelligence.
There were later arrests in the unit, which Mkhwanazi previously said had been targeted at imploding investigations.
O’Sullivan has been heavily involved in policing, crime investigation and State Capture-linked matters in South Africa.
In Wednesday’s proceedings in Parliament (October 08), EFF leader Julius Malema asked Mkhwanazi about O’Sullivan.
Malema, who described him as “untouchable” and “a bully”, asked Mkhwanazi if O’Sullivan was a United Kingdom MI6 intelligence agent.
Mkhwanazi replied that he had heard “talks” about this and claimed that O’Sullivan had citizenship in three countries, which made him “wonder”.
“Is Paul O’Sullivan a clean man or an agent? This country must not sit back and be run by Paul O’Sullivan,” Mkhwanazi said.
O’Sullivan’s legal team, led by Ulrich Roux, has demanded that Mkhwanazi retract his statements and issue a public apology within two business days, failing which, the counterclaim for the damages will continue.
Roux argued that the widespread media coverage has compounded the harm to their client’s reputation.
The feud between O’Sullivan and Mkhwanazi began last month, when Mkhwanazi filed a R5-million defamation lawsuit against O’Sullivan in the Johannesburg High Court.
Mkhwanazi claimed that the investigator had made “wrongful and defamatory” statements about him in media interviews between July and August.
These statements included accusations of corruption, being part of a police “hit squad”, and misusing state funds.
The dispute originated in July when Mkhwanazi held a press conference claiming criminals had infiltrated the South African justice system.