Members of Parliament (MPs) are calling on the arrest of forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan after he walked out of an ad hoc committee hearing.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Angry Members of Parliament (MPs) are calling for the arrest of forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan after he walked out of Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Thursday, saying he had to catch a flight before completing his testimony.
The committee is investigating allegations made by South African Police Service KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
O’Sullivan’s appearance had previously been postponed after he fell ill.
He was still under questioning by Advocate Bongiwe Mkhize, who said she had only a few questions left, when a heated exchange erupted over his repeated requests to ask questions and his insistence that he needed to leave by 1pm to avoid the cost of rescheduling his flight.
As Mkhize wrapped up, O’Sullivan stood, gathered his belongings and began walking out.
EFF leader Julius Malema told him to sit down, saying he had not been dismissed.
MK Party MP David Skosana said they would open a case against him for walking out of the hearing.
“You are walking out,” Malema and Skosana said, to which O’Sullivan replied, “I am finished.”
Malema said only the committee chair, Soviet Lekganyane, could excuse him.
O’Sullivan continued past MPs and left the proceedings, later saying he could not continue because he needed to catch his flight.
The committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane thanked members for restraining themselves, acknowledging that the situation could provoke strong emotions.
He said the committee would seek advice from Parliamentary Legal Services following the witness’s departure.
The committee adjourned briefly and was expected to continue with testimony from former national police commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane.
Speaking after O’Sullivan’s dramatic walkout, EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys said his actions amounted to contempt of Parliament.
“It wasn’t a walkout. We must call it what it is. It’s contempt of Parliament, and that is an offence,” she told SABC News.
Mathys said they wanted National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to act immediately.
“We do hope that the Speaker acts on this, not like how she ignored when he was insulting or sending threatening messages to witnesses. He’s at the airport now.
“So by now she should have sent her lawyers to court to file papers. When he lands in Joburg, if that’s where he’s landing, he must get arrested. We cannot be treated (like this).”
She added that the matter went beyond individual MPs.
“It’s not even about us as individual members of Parliament. We are one of the three arms of government. The same man has come here and declared how he loves South Africa and has given his life to fighting criminality, and then he just walked out from an institution that is one of the three arms of the state.
Members of Parliament are angry after investigator Paul O'Sullivan walked out of an ad hoc committee hearing.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
“It must be acted on, and it must be acted on immediately. We cannot be waiting 10 weeks or 10 years for Parliament to act. When he lands in Joburg, he must be arrested.”
Speaking to the media after the incident, Lekganyane said he had not seen any action by members that suggested they were blocking O’Sullivan from leaving.
“We had very good engagements with Mr Paul O’Sullivan over the last two days, including today. When we agreed that he should come back, indeed he came back. We had a very good start. There were rough moments, as in any engagement,” he said.
Lekganyane acknowledged tensions between the witness and MPs, saying that O’Sullivan had confirmed making statements about members of Parliament and political parties, including allegations that some parties were formed through syndicate activities.
Those remarks, he said, had not sat well with members, and O’Sullivan had agreed to retract them.
“Sparks were flying at some moments, and we have to accept that this was the kind of engagement we had. But generally, proceedings were good until that point,” he said.
“When we started, we announced that at some point he would leave, but not in the manner that he did.
“Members were saying that, pressed for time or not, he should leave in a manner that concludes proceedings properly - to say we have reached the point where he must leave.
“Not to say, ‘This is the last word I’m saying,’ and once he finishes, he stands up and leaves.”
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