Paul O’Sullivan accused of controlling SAPS and IPID, Nkabinde tells MPs
Suspended minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff Cedrick Nkabinde told Parliament that private investigator Paul O’Sullivan unlawfully influenced SAPS, IPID and NPA decisions, claiming he effectively “ran” the justice cluster without authority.
Image: Phioto : Ayanda Ndamane
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, dropped explosive bombshells before Parliament, alleging that private investigator Paul O’Sullivan wielded unlawful influence over SAPS, IPID, the NPA and the wider justice cluster and that senior officials allowed him to do so.
Testifying on Wednesday under grilling by MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo, Nkabinde said O’Sullivan was “in charge” of internal police and IPID operations despite holding no official position.
He claimed that a single email from O’Sullivan to the national commissioner was enough to stop his own SAPS appointment, saying: “He does not play any role in SAPS, but he’s in charge. He can send one email, and everything stops.”
Nkabinde said he believed he was targeted personally, telling MPs that O’Sullivan, Robert McBride and IDAC investigations head Matthews Sesoko “just hate me with passion.”
He added that he had taken the matter to the Labour Court before eventually receiving an appointment from Minister Mchunu, which he said O’Sullivan could not block because it came from a political office.
Nkabinde repeatedly insisted that O’Sullivan’s influence extended far beyond the police. He alleged that O’Sullivan “was running IPID, SAPS, NPA,” and said this amounted to “the real state capture,” claiming that cases involving O’Sullivan were stalled in the NPA.
He said two such dockets “are lying in dust,” adding that one had even been removed from a Black prosecutor.
Under questioning, Nkabinde said he had “never” had a personal relationship with O’Sullivan, but acknowledged that he and a group within IPID took instructions from him.
He said O’Sullivan sometimes arrived at IPID offices, held meetings, issued directions and even conducted interviews with witnesses using IPID letterheads.
“He was giving us instruction. He was in charge of us,” Nkabinde told the committee.
He further alleged that O’Sullivan’s interference succeeded because he had allies inside SAPS who leaked internal documents to him, including Nkabinde’s own appointment letter.
While asked to name these insiders, Nkabinde said he could not specify individuals but argued O’Sullivan’s access to information “shows he works with very senior people in SAPS.”
Nkabinde broke down the most serious of his claims when asked about allegations of plotting within IPID.
He admitted that he was part of a factional “task team” created by then–IPID head Robert McBride, saying McBride assembled members from different provinces into what Nkabinde described as a “national task team.”
He said this group communicated through WhatsApp and met physically to strategise. According to him, the aim was to remove then acting national commissioner Lt-Gen Khomotso Phahlane and ultimately position McBride to become national commissioner because, as he put it, “Paul O’Sullivan wanted McBride to become a national commissioner.”
He testified that the team’s activities involved unlawful interference, including a staged search-and-seizure operation at Phahlane’s home intended to ensure media coverage and pressure the president to act. “We created a scenario, the aim was to come with the media.
''Acting national commissioner’s home was raided, so the president will have no choice,” he said, adding that the reasons publicly cited, including allegations relating to a sound system and later blue-lights procurement , were fabricated.
In one of the most striking parts of his testimony, Nkabinde read from his 2018 report alleging that a meeting took place at O’Sullivan’s home, attended by McBride, himself, Mandlakayise Mahlangu, Sarah-Jane Trent, a Crime Intelligence operative named Candice, former Gauteng Hawks boss Shadrack Sibiya, “two white males” representing AfriForum and the DA, and a journalist.
He said the meeting’s purpose was to “plot how to bring down Phahlane” and that AfriForum representatives “guaranteed that the funds were available.”
According to him, O’Sullivan was designated to “spy” on Phahlane and other officials targeted across SAPS, the NPA, SSA and Crime Intelligence.
Responding to questions about motive, Nkabinde insisted Phahlane was targeted because “he did not comply with Paul O’Sullivan” and that McBride was preferred because “he could control McBride.”
He said this campaign successfully led to Phahlane’s suspension.
Nkabinde also claimed that the case in which O’Sullivan and McBride were once charged, for allegedly impersonating IPID officials, was withdrawn only to obtain a racketeering certificate and has never resumed.
He said Advocate Mashego at the DPP’s office handled the matter, with a major-general, now an acting divisional commissioner, serving as the investigating officer.
Asked whether O’Sullivan received foreign funding for these alleged operations, Nkabinde replied that his report stated “he do have fundings from overseas” intended to support interference in SAPS and the broader justice cluster.
Nomvalo signalled that former acting national commissioner Phahlane and O'Sullivan should be called to testify before parliament.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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