By Simon Nare
South Africa on Tuesday heard details of forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan’s background when he appeared before the ad hoc parliamentary committee probing allegations of corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.
O’Sullivan told the committee he was born in England to Irish parents and holds Irish, British, and South African citizenship, with passports from all three countries. He said he considers himself South African “above all else”.
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“I came to South Africa as a tourist and not as a terrorist,” O’Sullivan said, adding that supporting any country other than South Africa would be “criminal” in his view.
He said he was a trained soldier who served in British military intelligence but rejected claims that he was a spy or a member of MI5 or MI6.
“I am not a spy. I have never been a spy. I am a South African and I have never been a foreign agent,” he said.
O’Sullivan said he arrived in South Africa as a tourist, fell in love with the country and later relocated permanently, investing in property after the United Kingdom property market collapsed.
Explaining his multiple citizenships, O’Sullivan said he grew up in Ireland, identified as Irish and later applied for a British passport by virtue of being born in England.
“I saw no reason why I shouldn’t have these passports,” he said, adding that he often travels on his Irish passport to avoid long queues.
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Although widely described as a forensic investigator, O’Sullivan told MPs he was not formally trained as one and instead identifies as a fraud examiner.
He said he joined the police service in 1990 after his car was broken into and later completed a trainer’s course, after which he trained police reservists. One of the reservists he trained, he said, was President Cyril Ramaphosa.
O’Sullivan said Ramaphosa, who was later involved in drafting the Constitution, was “one of my brightest candidates” during his reservist training at the Paarl SAPS academy in the Western Cape.
His testimony initially stalled after MPs objected to conditions in an affidavit in which O’Sullivan indicated he would not answer questions relating to events before 1990 or his educational background.
Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane ruled that a witness appearing under oath could not dictate which questions may be asked.
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Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema said accepting such conditions would set a dangerous precedent.
“He can’t say to us we can’t ask him anything before 1990. What if the wrongdoing started before that period?” Malema said.
Following the ruling, O’Sullivan agreed to answer questions but said he would not respond to any that could compromise his personal safety or that of his family.
“I took an oath to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. I did not take an oath to answer every question if it compromises my family’s security,” he said.
O’Sullivan said his military training involved surveillance, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage operations in Europe but maintained this did not make him a spy.
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