R10m counterpunch: Forensic investigator hits back at KZN police boss in defamation battle

A BITTER legal war has erupted between embattled forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi — with a R10 million defamation counterclaim now on the table.

This comes after Mkhwanazi filed a R5 million defamation lawsuit against O’Sullivan, accusing him of tarnishing his name through public allegations of corruption. O’Sullivan has hit back, accusing the police boss of making false and damaging claims about him before official inquiries.

It has been reported that in court papers lodged in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, O’Sullivan’s legal team contends that Mkhwanazi defamed him by falsely implicating him in criminal activity during testimony before the Madlanga Commission and a parliamentary ad hoc committee.

“On or about September 15, 2025, the plaintiff (referring to Mkhwanazi) instituted action against the defendant (referring to O'Sullivan) for R5 million in damages for alleged defamation, which action was served on the defendant on September 16, 2025,” the court documents state.

“On September 17, 2025, the plaintiff commenced giving testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.”

The documents allege that while testifying, Mkhwanazi made several false and defamatory remarks in his capacity as provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal.

O’Sullivan’s lawyers claim that on September 19, 2025 — the third day of the commission — Mkhwanazi told the inquiry that O’Sullivan had committed an unspecified crime, saying he had “picked up” evidence of wrongdoing and had “registered a case” under investigation in KZN.

The defence maintains these statements are untrue, insisting that O’Sullivan has never committed a crime nor been charged.

“If a case has been opened, it has been done unlawfully because it has not been properly registered. The plaintiff would otherwise have been able to cite the case number,” the papers read.

The legal team also questioned Mkhwanazi’s authority to open and oversee a case within his own province.

The counterclaim further alleges that on October 8, 2025, Mkhwanazi repeated the same accusations before a parliamentary ad hoc committee probing corruption in the criminal justice system.

Among those claims, O’Sullivan’s lawyers say Mkhwanazi suggested the investigator could be acting on behalf of unnamed individuals and claimed that the operations of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) were “planned, coordinated, and executed” from O’Sullivan’s home.

He also reportedly stated that O’Sullivan “has got control all over” and that “it is time this country must not sit back and be run by Mr Paul O’Sullivan.”

O’Sullivan’s legal team dismissed these allegations as baseless, stressing that their client is a private businessman earning an income through property investments and a forensic investigations company.

“The defendant does not run any police operations, including IPID’s, and certainly does not run the country,” the filing states.

Mkhwanazi’s original R5 million defamation suit was filed in September after O’Sullivan repeatedly branded him a “criminal” and called for his suspension from SAPS.

O’Sullivan made the remarks after Mkhwanazi accused suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya of misconduct.

While testifying at the Madlanga Commission in September, Mkhwanazi claimed O’Sullivan’s criticism was driven by his “close relationship” with Sibiya.

“We know that Paul O’Sullivan, immediately after addressing the nation on July 6, went on television and spoke badly about me. He has been doing this for years,” Mkhwanazi said.

“His relationship with Sibiya is an open secret.”

He suggested that O’Sullivan’s attacks were part of a coordinated smear campaign.

O’Sullivan, however, fired back, describing the lawsuit as a “desperate attempt to silence a whistleblower.”

“Curiously, in his summons he does not make any denials whatsoever but only demands R5 million,” O’Sullivan said.

“He either hopes to set a national record for damages or hopes to silence me. He is mistaken on both counts.”

O’Sullivan maintains that Mkhwanazi has failed to address “serious allegations of unlawful conduct” made against him and vowed to continue speaking out.

“He is not the knight in shining armour he would have the media and the South African public believe he is,” O’Sullivan said.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE