KZN Police Commissioner launches R5 million defamation lawsuit against investigator Paul O'Sullivan

In a dramatic escalation of tensions within South Africa's law enforcement landscape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has taken the bold step of initiating a defamation lawsuit against renowned forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan, seeking damages totalling R5 million.

This legal action has emerged in the wake of O'Sullivan’s persistent public denunciations of Mkhwanazi, whom he accused of being a "criminal" and called for him to be suspended from the South African Police Service (SAPS).

O'Sullivan spoke against Mkhwanazi after he made damning allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.

This is not O'Sullivan's first instance of overstepping boundaries. Last month, Athol Trollip, the Chief Whip of ActionSA, filed criminal charges against the investigator, alleging that he threatened and intimidated him.

Trollip filed a complaint at the Central Police Station in Cape Town, claiming that O’Sullivan had sent him several threatening text messages that interfered with his ability to perform his duties in parliamentary oversight.

Trollip stated that O’Sullivan's behaviour was a direct attack on an elected official, and he believed that this type of behaviour ought to be addressed legally.

He read through a message which he said came from O'Sullivan.

"I have been looking at your misinformed attacks on me on social media because someone forwarded them to me. You are clearly an arrogant fool who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. Mkhwanazi is one of the biggest criminals that ever wore a police uniform; his crimes, when they are finally exposed, will shock the nation.

''Best part is, unlike you, you are in receipt of my taxpayer rand. I don’t get a single cent, then he said you attacked me personally on social media as if you’re Mkhwanazi’s right-hand man, which means that you must be supporting his criminal conduct. Either that, you are far too stupid to know a criminal when you see one," read the message.

Speaking to the SABC, Trollip said he's not a criminal and was only performing his duties as a member of Parliament. 

"All I was doing, as a public representative and member of Parliament, was calling for the allegations, both his and Mkhwanazi’s, to be investigated. If that intimidates him and elicits this kind of response, it’s absolutely melodramatic," he said at the time.

Meanwhile, IOL submitted a query to O'Sullivan, but there was no response by the time of publication.

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