'Get ready, you lying crook’: Nkabinde receives threatening SMS from Paul O’Sullivan
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, receives threatening message amid testimony. MPs vow legal action, protection, and accountability against private investigator Paul O’Sullivan.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s Chief of Staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, received a threatening message while testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Wednesday, sparking concern over the intimidation of witnesses and MPs.
Nkabinde told the committee that he had received a message from Paul O’Sullivan while eating, which read: “Get ready, you lying crook. I am going to make sure you spend some years in prison. You were bribed by Mkhwanazi and Mabula. Now you will pay for your crimes, guaranteed.”
This comes after Nkabinde had earlier dropped explosive bombshells before Parliament on Wednesday, alleging that private investigator O’Sullivan wielded unlawful influence over SAPS, IPID, the NPA, and the broader justice cluster, and that senior officials allowed him to do so.
Chairperson Molapi Lekganyane acknowledged that Nkabinde had brought the message to the committee’s attention and urged caution.
He said the Legal Services Department of Parliament would work with Nkabinde to ensure his rights as a citizen were protected.
“When we fly that banner which says proudly South African, we also include you in that message,” he said.
MKP MP Sibonelo Nomvalo called for O’Sullivan to be summoned urgently. “We’ve heard enough about this man intimidating people running the show alone, putting his hands where it doesn’t qualify to put hands.
''He must come here as a matter of urgency. Before we close, he must come before this committee. We just want to put that on the record,” Nomvalo said.
ANC MP Xola Nqola emphasised the committee’s responsibility to protect witnesses assisting its work.
He stressed that intimidation would not be tolerated and said the committee would await guidance from the Legal Services Department on options to handle the matter decisively.
EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys recalled that O’Sullivan had sent similar messages to MPs in 2018 during a police committee session.
“It’s not just about the witness that is here today, but it’s also about us as members of Parliament and as members of this ad hoc committee. A very strong message must be sent out, and we should also explore our legal obligations and options on what we can do about him outside of him just coming to appear here.
''We can’t be threatened in front of the whole nation, actually internationally, by this Paul O’Sullivan. It can’t happen,” Mathys said.
PA's Ashley Sauls stressed the importance of documenting the message for the official record.
“I think it’s very imperative that Mr Nkabinde should send a screenshot of that message to us so that we also have that on record. The whole country will be watching. What will we as Parliament do, if there was ever a time, to show the power vested in us to save this country and put South Africans first? It’s now. We can’t allow that,” Saul said.
MKP David Skosana said the police should be involved immediately.
“We’ve opened cases, and the police acted. We’ll open a case against him because we can’t have a thug intimidating parliamentarians and witnesses here. We should not be a banana republic or a mafia state. If I was in charge of the police, or if we were in America, he would be arrested tonight,” he said.
MKP MP Vusi Shongwe also advised Nkabinde to capture all details of the message, including the sender’s numbers, and warned that O’Sullivan should understand that South Africans would no longer tolerate such behavior.
“You are our guest. So for this Paul O’Sullivan to understand what South Africans are no longer paying, can he report to any politician tomorrow? Personally, I am going to open that case. This is our house and you are my guest. We will deal with this person,” Shongwe said.
Chairperson Lekganyane concluded that the matter would be escalated to Parliament’s legal team. He assured Nkabinde that his rights would be safeguarded and that appropriate steps would be taken in accordance with the law.
“Unfortunately, where I am sitting, I cannot say to them, ‘help you.’ I can only acknowledge their presence here to say, as people who deal with the law, for sure they know better what are your rights as a citizen of this country and what are the necessary and appropriate steps that must be taken,” he said to Nkabinde.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
IOL Politics