Paul O'Sullivan walked out of the ad hoc committee on Thursday.
Phando Jikelo/RSA Parliament
Paul O’Sullivan will reappear before the committee investigating criminal justice infiltration this coming Thursday.Last Thursday,he left the committee without the chairperson’s permission while the evidence leaders still had questions for him.The committee accuses O’Sullivan of contempt of Parliament,a case of which the EFF has already opened with the police. Controversial former British military intelligence officer and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan is expected back before the ad hoc committee investigating the underworld’s infiltration of the criminal justice system this coming Thursday.
However,his anticipated return to the committee does not mean the committee has forgiven him for what it considers contempt of Parliament,and it is of the view that he should be charged accordingly.
O’Sullivan,a controversial figure,was called back to the committee last Thursday after his previous appearance two weeks ago was cut short when he complained that he suffered from severe back pain.
At around 13:15,while evidence leader Advocate Bongiwe Mkhize was questioning him,O’Sullivan got up and left the committee,without being dismissed.
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He had previously indicated that he needed to leave at 13:00 to catch a flight.
Mkhize presented evidence that contradicted his testimony that he obtained a degree in electrical engineering,but showed that he was,in fact,qualified as an electric technician.
She was then dealing with the characteristics of members of criminal syndicates when O’Sullivan upped and left.
READ | Parliament ad hoc committee to recall O’Sullivan after walkout,EFF to lay charges
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On Thursday evening,the committee resolved to call O’Sullivan back to the committee.
During the committee’s housekeeping meeting on Monday morning,Parliamentary legal advisor,Andile Tetyana,said they addressed correspondence to O’Sullivan on Friday,“inviting” him to appear before the committee on 5 March,“as he was still under examination when he decided to abandon committee proceedings without the permission of the chairperson”.
Evidence leader Advocate Norman Arendse,SC,said:
He has confirmed that he will be in attendance on Thursday.
“If he is not,” Tetyana said,“a summons has already been prepared to secure his attendance.
“The Speaker indicated that she is at the service of the committee and will act as soon as she is briefed on what the committee has resolved in this regard,” Tetyana said.
The committee also received a legal opinion on the possibility of bringing charges against O’Sullivan following his walkout.
“In terms of section 7(a) of the Powers,Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act,2004 (Act No. 4 of 2004) (“PPIPPLA”),a person may not ‘...improperly interfere with or impede the exercise or performance by Parliament or a House or committee of its authority or functions’,” reads the legal opinion.
“The PPIPPLA further provides,at section 27(1),that any person,including a member,who contravenes section 7 commits an offence and is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.”
The legal opinion advises the committee that it is entitled to pursue relief in terms of section 7(a) of the PPIPPLA.
“Mr O’Sullivan’s actions can be construed as actions that ‘interfere with or impede the exercise or performance by Parliament or a House or committee of its authority or functions’,and therefore in terms of section 27 of the PPIPPLA,Mr O’Sullivan has potentially committed an offence,” reads the legal opinion.
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The legal opinion further advised that O’Sullivan’s conduct “is also potentially in breach of section 17(1)(c)(i) of the PPIPPLA because he failed,without sufficient cause,to answer fully and satisfactorily all questions lawfully put to him,given that he was under examination when he staged his walkout without the permission of the chairperson”.
READ | EFF opens case against O’Sullivan after Parliament walkout
On Friday,the EFF had already opened a case against O’Sullivan,alleging that he was in breach of section 17(1)(c).
O’Sullivan,however,avered that he is not in breach of the PPIPPLA.
“There is nothing in the act that prevents a person who is there voluntarily,from leaving 15 minutes after a pre-agreed time of departure,” he wrote in an email to News24.
“I answered every single question put to me,save for when the hooligans unlawfully prevented me from answering questions by crying like babies,because they did not want to hear the truth.
“At the time I left,there was not a single question,put to me,that had not been answered,save for private and confidential questions,that had nothing to do with their terms of reference.”
The committee welcomed both the fact that O’Sullivan would return to the committee and the legal opinion.
“The African National Congress welcomes the decisiveness with which this matter has been handled by both yourself,chair,and the Speaker,” said ANC MP Khusela Diko to committee chairperson,ANC MP Soviet Lekganyane.
She emphasised that O’Sullivan’s return to the committee did not negate the “fact that an offence was committed”.
She asked whether there had been an agreement that he would be allowed to leave at 13:00.
Arendse said they have never made any agreements with witnesses,but they have conveyed information to the committee.
“There was no agreement that Mr Paul O’Sullivan should leave early or at a particular time,” said Arendse. He said he indicated that he had to catch a 14:00 flight,but to get up and leave without permission “was unacceptable”.
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EFF MP and committee member Leigh-Ann Mathys agreed that O’Sullivan’s return didn’t negate the alleged contempt. She recommended that the Speaker submit an affidavit supporting her case against O’Sullivan to the police.
MKP MP Sibonelo Nomvalo said: “Even if,he had indicated to our technical team that he would leave at 13:00,that is immaterial.
“When you are in a committee meeting,you subject yourself to the directives of the chairperson and the directives of the committee.
“If you don’t adhere to the directives of the chair,you are contempting Parliament.”
The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach,Patriotic Alliance’s Ashley Sauls,and ActionSA’s Dereleen James expressed their agreement with the approach.
Lekganyane said he would “elevate” the committee’s appetite to open a case of contempt against O’Sullivan to the Office of the Speaker.
The committee will continue with its work on Tuesday,when it will hear from Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikilli.
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