Paul O’Sullivan rejects claims he is a foreign agent

Controversial private forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has denied that the reason he was in possession of passports from three different countries is because he is a foreign agent. Testifying at Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on Tuesday, O’Sullivan, who holds passports from South Africa, Ireland and the United Kingdom, said in his 40 years of stay in South Africa, he has never been involved in any foreign agent activities. “I would consider it criminal for me to support a foreign government.

I can categorically state that for the 40 years I have been in South Africa, I have never performed any foreign agent activities,” he said. O’Sullivan, who was brought up in Ireland, was born in the UK. While he holds citizenship of three countries, O’Sullivan said, he was more loyal to South Africa.

The reason he kept the citizenship of the UK and Ireland, O’Sullivan said, was because the passports issued by the two countries made it easier for him to enter any country in Europe. “It’s for convenience. My loyalty is to South Africa,” he said.

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The committee is investigating allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwananzi that politicians, members of the judiciary, senior police officials and businesspeople were colluding with criminal syndicates to undermine police investigations. Amongst others, Mkhwanazi accused O’Sullivan of interfering in police matters. While the committee by Tuesday afternoon was yet to deal with some of the claims levelled against O’Sullivan, it heard how O’Sullivan, through his company Forensics For Justice, developed an interest in the investigation of government departments and entities.

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