By Johnathan Paoli
Forensic examiner Paul O’Sullivan told Parliament’s ad-hoc committee on Wednesday that a sworn affidavit he was given alleges KwaZulu-Natal police chief Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi organised an extra-judicial team to kill criminal suspects.
Being led in evidence by senior counsel Advocate Norman Arendse, O’Sullivan said the deponent claimed to have been part of the hit squad – allegedly consisting of some members of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
ALSO READ: Just over R7 million budgeted for SONA 2026 in cost-cutting drive
The deponent alleged that Mkhwanazi would attend extrajudicial killing scenes “with other police officers to clean it up” and that members were paid R20,000 a month in cash, for the killings. They allegedly operated in three groups of about 20 people, O’ Sullivan said.
He said the original sworn statement had been handed to the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), and that he had refrained from further involvement.
O’Sullivan said Mkhwanazi chose to be silent about the “rampant criminal activity” within the PKTT, telling the committee he had been anonymously supplied with four sworn statements by police officers relating to the unit’s investigation at the University of Fort Hare.
He alleged the statements implicate members of the unit in bribery and criminal conduct, claiming PKTT members admitted receiving gratification, including the team leader who allegedly received R10,000.
ALSO READ: O’Sullivan on the defensive: five things that irked MPs
“To date, not one of these corrupt officials have been suspended, let alone been arrested and criminally charged for corruption. Mkhwanazi should explain why these criminals, one of them a lieutenant-colonel, are allowed to commit crime with impunity, as today, over a year later, they are still at work, whereas they should have been jailed, for corruption, and why he whitewashed the issues at the committee,” O’Sullivan said.
Arendse also asked O’Sullivan about Crime Intelligence’s so-called slush fund (secret service account), which enables the unit to manage and remunerate those that provide criminal intelligence and fund covert operations.
O’Sullivan questioned Mkhwanazi’s authority, describing how the fund was supposed to be used, and alleging that Mkhwanazi’s management of it may be corrupt.
“Mkhwanazi does not explain how the slush fund is managed in Kwa-Zulu Natal and how he pays these ‘informers’ he claims to have, or who authorises him to carry out what is clearly a Crime Intelligence operational function, with no security clearance,” he said.
O’Sullivan’s testimony continues.
ALSO READ: Civil society asks Ramaphosa to block murder-accused Solly Lechoenyo’s Special Forces promotion
INSIDE POLITICS