Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan is on a mission to clean up the justice system after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped charges of fraud and extortion against him in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court on Wednesday. It brings an end to a string of criminal charges levelled against him, where he was found not guilty or the charges were withdrawn.

Speaking through Forensics for Justice, on Thursday O’Sullivan called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to root out dodgy operators from the justice system, which he accused of conspiring to lay trumped-up charges to intimidate opponents of former President Jacob Zuma’s administration and allies.

“It will take many years for the country to recover from the disease of state-sponsored looting and corruption that very nearly brought our country to its knees,” said O’Sullivan.

“The repair process cannot begin until the rule of law is returned. It is no point appointing a new head (of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) when he is surrounded by hyenas, who daily seek to undermine his attempts to rid this country of the scourge of corruption.”

O’Sullivan’s first targets are from the NPA’s Priority Crime Investigation Litigation Unit (PCLU) and SAPS’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Unit (DPCI), known as the Hawks.

Representing O’Sullivan, law firm Hurter Spies outlined his plans in a letter to PCLU Deputy Director Advocate Jabulani Mlotshwa on Thursday.

They said the unit was “working hand-in-glove with rogue members of the DPCI, as the ‘unit of choice’ to deal with politically motivated false allegations, against not only our client, but against the likes of Anwar Dramat, Robert McBride, Shadrack Sibiya, Johan Booysen, Glynnis Breytenbach, Julius Malema, Pravin Gordhan and the so-called ‘SARS Three’”.

“Multiple fake cases have been run against me, all of which have now failed,” said O’Sullivan.

In 2016, O’Sullivan was dragged off a plane by police and apprehended in front of his young daughters on a unique charge related to his multiple passports. He said his office had been unlawfully raided and he and his lawyer had been kidnapped.

He linked the multiple cases brought against him to charges he laid against high-ranking officials, including former acting SAPS commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, former Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza, top NPA officials Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, former SAA chair Dudu Myeni, and the former president’s relations Edward and Khulubuse Zuma.

O’Sullivan’s lawyers said the allegations against them included corruption, fraud and racketeering involving amounts over R10-billion, but not one case was opened. At the same time he accuses the NPA and Hawks of subjecting him to intimidation and harassment.

The forensic investigator now wants to get nolle prosequi certificates so he can lead private prosecutions against Mlotshwa and Warrant Officer Kobus Vlok, whom he accuses of working together to invent charges against him. He alleges they should be charged with unlawful arrest, perjury, defeating the ends of justice, torture and theft of a criminal docket.

O’Sullivan has been working in tandem with AfriForum, which in 2016 announced its intention to lead a number of private prosecutions.

“I know the full details of each and every one of the criminals responsible for this gross abuse of power and constitutional rights and will not rest until each and every one of them has been brought to justice,” he said.

“We shall give the state a further 30 days to institute proceedings against those we have identified and, if they refuse to do so, we shall start the process ourselves,” he said of the officials who he claims wronged him.

He also plans to issue a “substantial damages claim”, including constitutional damages, for his treatment by the authorities. He wants Mlotshwa, Vlok and others within the NPA and Hawks to be held personally liable for the costs.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Thursday that O’Sullivan is welcome to engage Hawks leader Godfrey Lebeya about his allegations, like any other citizen, but the unit cannot act until he details his claims.

NPA spokesperson Hurbetin Phindi Louw-Mjonondwane confirmed that the NPA dropped the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court matter against O’Sullivan, but she would not comment on the reasons why. She would not respond to O’Sullivan’s allegations that the various charges were aimed at harassing and intimidating him.

O’Sullivan recently made headlines after it was revealed he was paid R1.2-million by Vodacom in an out-of-court settlement after the company gave his personal information to the legal team of jailed former crime boss Radovan Krejcir in 2014. Krejcir had threatened O’Sullivan, who relentlessly investigated the criminal kingpin.

Recently he has targeted management consultants McKinsey and law firm Hogan Lovells, calling on them to reveal more information about their alleged role in Zuma-era corruption and be held accountable. DM