O’Sullivan claims he spent his own money to make South Africa ‘safer’

Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan says that to get to the core of police corruption, the focus needs to be on the consistent looting of the Crime Intelligence unit’s secret slush fund.

He testified about the fund on Wednesday, 11 February 2026, before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating accusations that a cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.

However, during the proceedings, the focus shifted to O’Sullivan’s own money issues – and a R100,000 “reward” he referred to as a “refund” that he was apparently paid about two decades ago by the now-defunct crimefighting unit, the Scorpions.

The R100,000 from the Scorpions was highlighted because O’Sullivan insisted that he had never received any remuneration for “public interest work” in South Africa.

Money matters

O’Sullivan was born in the UK and grew up in Ireland.

In the 1970s, he worked for the British government in counterterrorism and counterespionage roles and decades later became a police reservist in South Africa, where he also filled various other roles, including overseeing airport security.

He began testifying before the ad hoc committee on Tuesday, during which he insisted that he was not a foreign agent and had never worked with intelligence agencies in South Africa.

Read more: ‘I was never a foreign agent in SA’ — Paul O’Sullivan denies spy suspicion

But ad hoc committee members appeared unconvinced when weighing this up against his extensive background.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, MPs had a chance to ask O’Sullivan questions, and at one stage EFF leader Julius Malema asked him where his money came from.

Malema said he suspected O’Sullivan was paid by military intelligence, presumably in the UK, to appear to be a property investor in other countries, including South Africa.

O’Sullivan replied that it seemed as if Malema was watching too much television.

Mkhwanazi and slush fund accusations

The ad hoc committee is investigating accusations first made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

O’Sullivan, though, is of the opinion that Mkhwanazi made the accusations to distract the public from other massive internal state problems.

There are now two main narratives about the policing scandal – that Mkhwanazi’s allegations are masking Crime Intelligence slush fund looting, or that this idea is part of a campaign to discredit him and his legitimate accusations.

During Wednesday’s ad hoc proceedings, O’Sullivan, referring to the Crime Intelligence slush fund, said there were many corrupt individuals with badges. He warned, “If it’s not stopped, this country will go into a decline that it’ll never recover from.”

O’Sullivan recalled that Mkhwanazi, during previous ad hoc proceedings and a parallel hearing, had referred to informers who provided him with information.

The slush fund, O’Sullivan said, was meant for paying informers.

In his affidavit to the ad hoc committee, O’Sullivan said that Mkhwanazi did not explain how the slush fund was managed in KwaZulu-Natal, or how he paid the informers that he claimed to have.

‘The root of all evil’

“If the committee wants to get to the bottom of the root of all evil in the police, it needs to start with the slush fund, by stopping the wanton theft of millions of rands every year, which is stolen in secret and spent in secret, with zero accountability and has police officials fighting amongst themselves to get their grubby hands on the slush fund cash,” O’Sullivan’s affidavit said.

“For them, it’s not about fighting crime, it’s about getting their hands on taxpayer funds, to substantially improve their lives and the lives of their families.”

Read more: Richard Mdluli finally turns up in court to face slush fund corruption charges

He described the slush fund as proverbial “manna from heaven” to criminals.

O’Sullivan said: “The available cash is to the tune of over half a billion rands per annum with zero controls over how it is spent.”

He said the slush fund budget had increased by more than 500% over 13 years, higher than inflation, but crime was not dropping at the same rate.

‘Never remunerated’ versus ‘R100,000 reward’

During Tuesday and Wednesday’s proceedings, O’Sullivan said he had spent his own money to make South Africa safer.

A section of his affidavit elaborated on this, saying: “For the avoidance of doubt, I have never been remunerated for any of my public interest work, over the last 25 years.

“Quite the opposite, I have spent vast sums of my own funds, in the interests of making South Africa a safer country for all its inhabitants.”

But during Wednesday’s ad hoc proceedings, ActionSA’s Dereleen James said that she had documents from 2007 showing that O’Sullivan had been paid R100,000 from the Crime Intelligence slush fund. (It turned out, though, that this was from the Scorpions, which fell under the National Prosecuting Authority.)

“You, too, have benefited from the ‘manna of heaven’,” she told him.

O’Sullivan replied: “Not true.”

James said she had “brought receipts” to back up what she was saying.

The documents included a March 2007 internal Scorpions memorandum about a “reward” or “reimbursement” for O’Sullivan.

These said that in 2005, O’Sullivan won over the trust of a drug syndicate member who deposed an affidavit.

O’Sullivan sent the individual, his wife and two children into hiding and covered the expenses because the Scorpions’ money was not readily available.

Read more: Glenn Agliotti — from second-hand sales to narcotrafficking and bribing SA’s top cop with designer threads

According to the internal memo, this contributed to the arrest of drug dealer Glenn Agliotti. (Agliotti bribed former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi.)

The memo said O’Sullivan had not provided information for “financial gain”.

The internal Scorpion memorandum also said the expenses he incurred included “air flight expenses” that amounted to R23,200.

It recommended that O’Sullivan “be paid the amount of R100,000.00 as reward in lieu of time, effort, money, successful recovery of a large consignment of drugs and the prosecution of the syndicate”.

This money, based on a copy of a receipt and cheque, appeared to have been paid to O’Sullivan in May 2007.

‘Expenses I incurred’

On Wednesday, while testifying, O’Sullivan denied receiving Crime Intelligence slush fund money, explaining that, based on the documents James had (which he was seeing for the first time), he received R100,000 from the Scorpions at its behest.

This, he said, was a refund for “expenses I incurred” for additional security arrangements for a “witness afraid for his life” who was involved in the investigation into Selebi.

O’Sullivan said the R100,000 was also related to the use of his aircraft.

He said that he had actually spent more than R500,00 of his own money on this matter.

But James put it to him that he initially said he had never received remuneration from the state, whereas in fact, he had.

She said this suggested he had lied under oath and ActionSA would therefore lodge a complaint against him with the police.

The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach suggested that the documents James had might not be legitimate.

Lost in translation

Earlier during the proceedings, James spoke to O’Sullivan in Afrikaans.

This was because the day before, a handwritten letter from O’Sullivan, dated November 1982, and addressed to a politician, was read out.

In it, he said he wanted to stay in South Africa, but needed a work permit.

Part of O’Sullivan’s letter had said: “I have already applied for a course in Afrikaans as I want to completely integrate with the South African way of life.”

During Wednesday's proceedings, James told O’Sullivan she was addressing him in Afrikaans because, based on his letter, he came to this country to learn the language.

He replied: “My Afrikaans is nie goed nie.” (My Afrikaans is not good.)

James said this proved he did not learn Afrikaans, as his letter from the 1980s said he had planned.

O’Sullivan said that at one point, he could speak fluent Afrikaans, but a brain injury from when he was nearly murdered had changed that. (On Tuesday, he had said there had been 10 attempts on his life over 15 years.)

Wednesday’s proceedings stretched into the evening when O’Sullivan said he was in serious pain due to spinal issues, the result of a shooting related to crimefighting work.

He wanted to press on and finish his time before the committee, but it was ultimately decided he would be called back at a later stage so that MPs could complete his questioning. DM