Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has sent a letter of apology to a parliamentary ad hoc committee after leaving last week’s proceedings, saying he had to catch a flight.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Controversial forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has apologised to members of the Parliamentary ad hoc committee following his dramatic walkout last week and returned to testify on Thursday morning.
Committee chairperson, Soviet Lekganyane, said O’Sullivan had sent a letter apologising for his actions on Wednesday night.
The announcement came at the conclusion of testimony from MP and National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader Fadiel Adams.
Lekganyane told committee members that O’Sullivan’s letter expressed regret for leaving the proceedings last week.
The apology follows a request from the committee’s legal representative, Andile Tetyana of Parliament’s Legal Services, that O’Sullivan complete his testimony on Thursday.
He was asked to confirm his attendance by midday on Monday, March 2, or face a formal summons to appear before the committee.
The ad hoc committee is investigating allegations made in July last year by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Last week Thursday, O’Sullivan left the hearing while still being questioned by advocate Bongiwe Mkhize, who said she had only a few questions remaining.
Tensions escalated after repeated exchanges about O’Sullivan’s request to ask questions and his insistence that he needed to leave by 1pm to avoid the cost of rescheduling his flight.
As Mkhize wrapped up, O’Sullivan stood up, gathered his belongings and began walking out.
EFF leader Julius Malema told him to sit down, saying he had not been dismissed.
MK Party MP David Skosana warned that a case would be opened against him for leaving the hearing.
“You are walking out,” Malema and Skosana said, to which O’Sullivan replied: “I am finished.”
Malema responded that only the committee chairperson, Lekganyane, could excuse him.
O’Sullivan continued past MPs and left the proceedings, later explaining that he needed to catch his flight.
Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan is set to reappear before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Thursday.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza later expressed “deep concern” about the incident, describing the walkout as “unfortunate”.
O’Sullivan is now expected to return to the committee to continue his testimony.
Lekganyane said members would be given another opportunity to question O’Sullivan on his testimony.
He added that O’Sullivan’s appearance would be followed by testimony from Sarah-Jane Trent, his former assistant.
Earlier in the same meeting, former senior National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) advocate Michael Mashuga said the only way to stop O’Sullivan from accessing sensitive personal information, including people’s credit records, was for senior officials to stop being corrupt.
Mashuga accused O’Sullivan of infiltrating the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and accessing sensitive personal information without authorisation.
“See how easily he accessed credit information records of people and didn’t see that as wrong,” Mashuga said.
“He said, ‘No, I am allowed to do that.’ No lawful reason that he gave.”
He was responding to questions from Patriotic Alliance (PA) MP Ashley Sauls about how O’Sullivan had obtained individuals’ credit information.
The issue arose after O’Sullivan revealed that Skosana allegedly owed money to a bank.
His comments raised concerns among South Africans that a bank may have unlawfully shared confidential client information.
O’Sullivan did not disclose which bank was involved or the amount allegedly owed.
Sauls suggested that O’Sullivan’s access to private information gave him a perceived “God status”.
“Yes, and I mean, he’s everything that you can think of,” Mashuga said.
Mashuga said he later discovered that O’Sullivan did not have qualifications in several of the areas in which he claimed expertise.
“He even said he’s a professional engineer. I was asking myself, how is he?” Mashuga said.
Sauls asked whether the only way to remove O’Sullivan’s “fake God status” was for generals and senior officials to stop being corrupt.
“I think you are accurate on that one,” Mashuga replied.
Testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee, former NPA advocate Michael Mashuga alleged that controversial investigator Paul O’Sullivan infiltrated the police watchdog and accessed confidential credit information without lawful authority.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
Mashuga, who left the NPA in 2024, also accused O’Sullivan and Trent of infiltrating IPID.
In 2017, Mashuga prosecuted O’Sullivan and Trent on multiple charges, including fraud and extortion. He said he had evidence of significant interference by the pair, which contributed to delays in the case.
At the time, O’Sullivan, Trent and IPID officers Mandlakayise Mahlangu and Temane Binang were charged with fraud, intimidation, extortion and contravening the IPID Act.
The charges stemmed from an investigation into former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane. The matter was later struck off the roll after multiple delays.
Mashuga alleged that O’Sullivan and Trent impersonated IPID officers and obtained statements from witnesses while Mahlangu and Binang did nothing to stop them.
During that period, Mashuga said he faced sustained interference, insults and accusations that he had been “captured”.
“O’Sullivan went for interviews at different radio stations - Radio 702, Power FM - and various articles were written about me,” he said.
Mashuga said his name later appeared in a book by Jacques Pauw, in which allegations of state capture and corruption were made against him.
“These allegations were made simply because I had decided to prosecute Mr Paul O’Sullivan and other suspects,” he said.
Mashuga maintained that he had sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution.
“There has always been this question whether Mr Paul O’Sullivan and Trent were entitled to involve themselves in this investigation, and whether IPID had abdicated its statutory powers, duties and functions to a private person,” he said.
He further alleged that during the IPID investigation into Phahlane, O’Sullivan repeatedly taunted him by email and threatened to send Phahlane to prison.
Mashuga told the committee the investigation at the time was not independent because it had been infiltrated and effectively led by O’Sullivan and Trent.
He alleged the pair were biased, lacked independence and had a motive to falsely implicate Phahlane.
Mashuga added that it was widely known that some IPID members had close relationships with O’Sullivan and Trent.
IOL Politics
Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan on Thursday apologised and withdrew controversial remarks, saying the comments had been taken out of context.
Image: Picture Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers