The feud between under-fire forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and KwaZulu-Natal police boss Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has intensified, with a R10 million defamation counterclaim filed.
The clash between the two follows Mkhwanazi’s own R5 million lawsuit against O’Sullivan, alleging that the investigator defamed him with public claims of corruption.
According to court papers reportedly filed in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, O’Sullivan’s legal team argues that Mkhwanazi defamed him by falsely implicating him in criminal activity during his testimony at both the Madlanga Commission and the parliamentary ad hoc committee.
“On or about September 15, 2025, the plaintiff (referring to Mkhwanazi) instituted action against the defendant 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 papers allege that, during his testimony, Mkhwanazi made several false and defamatory statements while acting in his official capacity as the provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal.
O’Sullivan’s legal team claims that on September 19, 2025, day three of the commission, Mkhwanazi falsely 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 argues the statements are false and defamatory, insisting that O’Sullivan has not committed any crimes and has never been charged.
“If a case has been opened, it has been done unlawfully because it has not been properly registered,” the papers reads.
“The plaintiff would otherwise have been able to cite the case number.”
O’Sullivan’s legal team also questioned Mkhwanazi’s authority to register a criminal case and oversee its investigation within his own province.
The counterclaim further alleges that on October 8, 2025, Mkhwanazi repeated false and defamatory statements before a parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating corruption within the criminal justice system.
Among the claims, O’Sullivan’s legal team said Mkhwanazi allegedly suggested that the forensic investigator could be acting as an agent for unnamed individuals, and that operations of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) were “planned, coordinated, and executed” from O’Sullivan’s home.
He also reportedly claimed 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 lawyers dismissed the allegations as baseless and damaging, insisting their client is a private businessman earning income through property investment 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 R5 million defamation suit was filed in September after O’Sullivan repeatedly called him a “criminal” and demanded his suspension from SAPS.
The forensic investigator made the comments after Mkhwanazi accused suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya of misconduct.
Testifying at the Madlanga Commission, in September, Mkhwanazi alleged that O’Sullivan’s criticism was motivated 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.”
Mkhwanazi suggested the attacks formed part of a broader smear campaign against him.
O’Sullivan, however, described Mkhwanazi’s 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 maintained 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
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