HOW RAMAPHOSA'S ADVISOR SHOPPED FOR A COMMISSIONER

O'Sullivan disclosed he was approached by Benjani for advice on appointment

- SIFISO MAHLANGU

THE parliamentary inquiry into alleged interference and corruption within the South African Police Service (SAPS) has cast renewed attention on the unusual intersections between forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan and President Cyril Ramaphosa, following testimony that links the two men across different periods of South Africa’s democratic era.

O'Sullivan, appearing before Parliament’s ad hoc committee chaired by ANC MP Soviet Lekganyane, disclosed under oath that he had been approached by Bejani Chauke, then special adviser to Ramaphosa, for advice on appointing a national police commissioner in 2022.

“I was approached by Bejani Chauke. I have to tell the truth because I swore to tell the truth,” O'Sullivan told MPs. “He informed me that they were looking to appoint a permanent appointee. They asked for informal advice.”

The approach came after former national commissioner Khehla Sithole’s tenure effectively ended in February 2022, following a legal dispute with the President over his suspension and fitness to hold office. A settlement agreement between the Presidency and Sithole brought his term to an early conclusion.