By Johnathan Paoli
Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Wednesday adjourned proceedings after witness Paul O’Sullivan said he was in excruciating pain.
O’Sullivan’s testimony was cut short despite the sitting being scheduled as the final day of his appearance.
The committee said it would arrange a new date for him to conclude his evidence.
Ad hoc committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane granted the adjournment, saying the legal teams and O’Sullivan would agree on a date for the resumption of proceedings.
“I am in agony,” O’Sullivan, the controversial Irish-born forensic investigator and anti-corruption activist, told MPs.
Before the adjournment, the hearing descended into heated exchanges as members questioned O’Sullivan over claims that he benefited from a Crime Intelligence (CI) slush fund, allegations that he is a foreign spy, and a message he sent to previous witness Cedrick Nkabinde.
The most contentious exchange arose when ActionSA MP Dereleen James presented what she said was proof that O’Sullivan received R100,000 from a CI secret service account during the investigation into Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir.
James said she had documentation reflecting a R100,000 payment into O’Sullivan’s Nedbank account, allegedly from the CI slush fund.
“You have repeatedly stated that you have not received any money, and today I have brought receipts to show that you have lied to this House, under oath,” James said, adding that she would lay criminal charges.
O’Sullivan denied the allegation, insisting the funds did not originate from Crime Intelligence.
“The money didn’t come from the CI slush fund; it came from the DSO fund,” he said, referring to the former Directorate of Special Operations, known as the Scorpions.
He said the R100,000 was a partial reimbursement for security expenses he personally incurred while assisting in the Jackie Selebi investigation.
“I spent more than R500,000, and they only repaid R100,000. It was from the NPA’s fund, not from the CI slush fund,” he said.
He also claimed there had been an oral agreement with the DSO to cover certain operational costs, including transporting investigators in his private aircraft during a drug investigation.
EFF leader Julius Malema argued that regardless of whether the money came from the DSO or CI, it was public funds.
“You are one of the people benefiting from the slush fund,” Malema said, adding that the document presented did not describe the payment as a refund.
O’Sullivan rejected the claim, saying the payment was a reimbursement and “not a reward for information”.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach questioned the reliability of the document presented by James, pointing to discrepancies.
“At one place it shows R1 million. It has to be one or the other,” she said.
Allegations that O’Sullivan is a foreign intelligence operative also resurfaced during the session.
ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli told him that if he were a spy, he would not admit it.
“I can categorically state that I am not a spy and never have been. If I am a spy, I’m a very bad one,” O’Sullivan responded.
When pressed that spies operate under cover, he replied that he was not living “under the radar”.
The committee further interrogated a message O’Sullivan sent to former witness Cedrick Nkabinde after his testimony.
ANC MP Xola Nqola described the message as a threat that undermined Parliament’s work.
O’Sullivan admitted sending the message but denied that it was threatening, saying he was warning Nkabinde about the consequences of perjury.
Throughout the session, O’Sullivan maintained that allegations he had captured the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) or was acting on behalf of foreign intelligence agencies were unfounded.
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