Did Paul O'Sullivan ghost-write Jacques Pauw's 'The President's Keepers'?
Former Gauteng Hawks boss Prince Mokotedi claims investigator Paul O'Sullivan ghost-wrote Jaques Pauw's book 'The President's Keepers'.
Image: IOL Graphics
Former Gauteng Hawks head Major General Prince Mokotedi has alleged that The President’s Keepers, by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw, was ghost-written by forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan.
Published in 2017, The President’s Keepers examines alleged corruption, abuse of power and intelligence failures within South Africa’s security and law-enforcement structures, and contains claims relating to the tenure of former president Jacob Zuma and senior officials in the State Security Agency, the police and prosecuting authority.
The popular book triggered widespread political fallout, legal threats and renewed scrutiny of the country’s criminal justice system.
The President's Keepers, by Jacques Pauw
Image: File
Mokotedi recently made the allegation during a recent interview on the Moya Podcast hosted by firebrand activist, poet and public commentator, Ntsiki Mazwai. The conversation, attended by thousands of people online, focused on unravelling who O'Sullivan is, with Mokotedi as the guest. During the session, Mokotedi claimed that O’Sullivan authored the book and alleged that when he confronted him about its authorship, O’Sullivan agreed.
In expanding on his claims, Mokotedi said law-enforcement authorities had investigated O’Sullivan for several years, including arrests and court appearances dating back to 2016, before Mokotedi himself was removed from the Hawks.
“We were the first ones to arrest him in April 2016. We had dockets around him, we took him to court on a number of cases,” Mokotedi said. He further alleged that O’Sullivan had become entrenched within powerful structures and suggested that mounting pressure had driven O'Sullivan out of the country.
Mokotedi also alleged during the interview that O’Sullivan was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies, claiming that law-enforcement bodies had profiled him and that this was, in his words, “an established fact”. No evidence was presented during the interview to substantiate the claims.
Former Gauteng Hawks boss Prince Mokotedi
Image: BHEKIKHAYA MABASO
IOL independently contacted O’Sullivan for comment, who said he was in London at the time. In written responses to IOL, O’Sullivan rejected the allegation outright and denied any involvement in writing The President’s Keepers.
“I certainly did not write Jacques Pauw’s book,” O’Sullivan said, adding sarcastically that while the allegation was false, “it would be nice to get a chunk of the royalties, as I hear it sold 100,000 copies”.
Speaking to IOL telephonically from London, O’Sullivan again denied the allegation, saying he had “absolutely nothing to do” with the book. He said that although he knew Pauw professionally and had read The President’s Keepers, he had not been consulted during its writing and played no role in its production.
O’Sullivan strongly questioned Mokotedi’s credibility, referring to findings contained in reports issued by the Hawks Ombud, formally known as the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Judge. He described the reports as “very damning” and said they supported his long-standing claim that he had been unlawfully targeted during Mokotedi’s tenure as Gauteng Hawks head — an interpretation Mokotedi has previously disputed.
Private investigator Paul O’Sullivan on Thursday told IOL that he had arrived in London.
Image: Itumeleng English
O’Sullivan further said Mokotedi was later removed from his post as provincial Hawks head, a move reported at the time as a redeployment to the Hawks’ national office.
The exchange comes as O’Sullivan remains a central figure in Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee probing allegations of corruption and political interference within the criminal justice system. The committee has insisted that O’Sullivan appear in person to testify and has rejected his request to give evidence virtually.
O’Sullivan has said he is willing to testify but has cited security threats as the reason he will not return to South Africa to appear physically, with MPs indicating they may move to subpoena him.
Pauw also rejected Mokotedi’s claim, responding dismissively to IOL’s questions. “The book was in fact wrtien (sic) by Vladimir Putin during a holiday in Siberia,” Pauw responded. “It was there that I convinced him to invade Ukraine.”
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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