Paul O’Sullivan’s former assistant Sarah-Jane Trent appeared before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee, where she broke down multiple times during her testimony. Sarah-Jane Trent, former assistant to Paul O’Sullivan, wants her March 5 evidence before the Ad Hoc Committee declared invalid, saying she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was unfit to testify. The move was revealed on Tuesday by Parliament’s legal advisor Andile Tetyana, who told the committee Trent’s lawyers submitted a formal demand to have her oral evidence struck from the record.
“I think the purpose of the correspondence is to have her oral testimony declared invalid… and struck from the record,” Tetyana said. Trent, who struggled to answer questions during her appearance, claims she has lived with PTSD since 2017 and was overwhelmed during proceedings. She described experiencing “secondary trauma” and “complete helplessness,” arguing she was effectively re-traumatised while testifying.
Her submission also alleges she was held against her will, an explosive claim firmly rejected by the committee. Tetyana dismissed her explanation as an attempt to justify her failure to respond to questions. Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane backed him, stating Trent cannot claim she was detained.
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The application now puts the inquiry at a crossroads. If her testimony is scrapped, Tetyana said, “we might end up not having a report”.
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