By Johnathan Paoli
MK Party MP David Skosana on Thursday accused private forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan of being a foreign spy, triggering a heated exchange at the ad hoc committee that is investigating infiltration of and political interference in the criminal justice system.
Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane had to intervene to restore order as Skosana pressed O’Sullivan on his credibility and on foreign travel with police officers linked to investigations involving Czech organised crime figure Radovan Krejcir.
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O’Sullivan said the trip was lawful and self-funded.
EFF leader Julius Malema later urged O’Sullivan to answer questions without interrupting MPs.
Earlier, ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli resumed questioning that had been paused during O’Sullivan’s previous appearance, focusing on claims that former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi improperly lobbied for airport security to fall under police control.
O’Sullivan said Selebi breached the Police Service Act by remaining politically active as an ANC NEC member while serving, adding that after he cancelled an Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) contract, Selebi sought a meeting to push changes to the National Key Points framework.
“[H]e pushed to change the National Key Points Act with a view to removing the responsibility, the reporting line for the National Key Points Act from the SANDF to SAPS… because he believed that the National Key Points should be under the police and not the army,” O’Sullivan said.
Pressed on allegations that former president Thabo Mbeki and Selebi “plotted” to arrest Jacob Zuma before he was ANC president, O’Sullivan said he accessed transcripts of the so-called spy tapes, which used coded references rather than names. Ntuli countered that his own review found no direct instruction from Mbeki.
When Ntuli raised recurring claims that O’Sullivan was a foreign spy, O’Sullivan denied it. “I have never been a foreign spy,” he said, adding that he had taken an oath of allegiance to South Africa and spent decades fighting crime.
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Ntuli said he was not accusing O’Sullivan, but noted questions arose given O’Sullivan’s early UK military intelligence service. O’Sullivan said it was unreasonable to draw such conclusions.
DA MP Ian Cameron questioned O’Sullivan about his past dealings with businessman Zunaid Moti and relationships within Crime Intelligence. O’Sullivan said a case against Moti collapsed after prosecutorial representations and that he later did business with Moti following due diligence, denying wrongdoing.
O’Sullivan also referred to reported tensions between senior police officers, saying he had professional dealings with suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and meetings with head of security and counterintelligence, Feroz Khan, and described the relationship as “toxic”.
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On his criticism of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s July 2025 briefing — where Mkhwanazi made explosive claims about interference in and capture of the criminal justice system while dressed in Special Task Force fatigues — O’Sullivan said the issue was not entitlement to wear a uniform, but the optics of appearing in combat gear with armed officers at a media briefing.
“That media conference was not only dishonest, it was divisive,” he said.
Mkhwanazi’s allegations led to the establishment of the Madlanga Commission and the ad hoc committee.
The committee continues.