McBride tells MPs O’Sullivan ‘did not control IPID’, calls claims a fiction

By Johnathan Paoli

Former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) head Robert McBride told Parliament that while he has an association with forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan, claims that O’Sullivan controlled or directed IPID investigations were a “fiction”, as MPs repeatedly pressed him on the nature of their relationship during a tense sitting of the ad hoc committee probing corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.

Questioned by ANC MP Thokozile Sokanyile on how long he had known O’Sullivan, McBride said he had known him since 2014, shortly after his appointment to IPID, after engaging with what he described as O’Sullivan’s “provocations” around the previous leadership of the watchdog.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Dashcam footage of Vanderbijlpark scholar crash

McBride characterised the relationship as professional rather than personal, saying: “He is a certified fraud examiner. He assists with forensic analysis of documents and does the work that investigative journalists do