National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Secretary to Parliament Xolile George will lay a criminal complaint against controversial forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan after he walked out of an Ad Hoc Committee hearing and allegedly sent a threatening message to a witness.
The parliamentary legal team confirmed the development on Wednesday.
The complaint relates to O’Sullivan’s abrupt walkout when he appeared before the Ad Hoc Committee two weeks ago.
During the hearing, O’Sullivan told MPs he needed to catch a flight and left despite attempts by some committee members to stop him.
In a written apology submitted later, he said severe back pain had forced him to leave the proceedings.
However, several MPs, including Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters and a member of the committee, rejected the explanation.
The committee is investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, in a bombshell media briefing in July 2025.
During the proceedings on Wednesday, EFF MP and committee member Leigh-Ann Mathys asked committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane about the matter before the session took a break while former deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Francinah Vuma appeared before the committee.
After the break, a legal representative confirmed that Didiza and George would lay criminal charges against O’Sullivan.
“Yes, in terms of the report, Honourable Mathys, we have drafted an affidavit for the speaker to do a confirmatory affidavit. The Secretary to Parliament has also done an affidavit,” the legal representative said.
“Both documents are completed and with the Office of the Secretary to Parliament for signature. As soon as he signs and commissions them, he will take the documents to the police station and lay a charge.”
The complaint relates both to the walkout and to an alleged threatening message sent to Cedric Nkabinde, chief of staff to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu.
Nkabinde was testifying before the committee last year on November 19, 2025, when he received a text message from O’Sullivan.
The message came after Nkabinde alleged that O’Sullivan had captured the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
“Get ready, you lying crook. I am going to make sure you spend some years in prison.”
“You were bribed by Mkhwanazi and Mabula. Now you will pay for your crimes, guaranteed,” read the message.
The incident was not the first time O’Sullivan had been accused of sending threatening messages.
His departure from the hearing also sparked a heated exchange.
While he was still being questioned by advocate Bongiwe Mkhize, O’Sullivan repeatedly asked to pose questions and insisted he needed to leave by 1pm to avoid rescheduling his flight.
As Mkhize concluded her questioning, O’Sullivan stood up, gathered his belongings and began leaving.
Malema told him to sit down, saying he had not been dismissed.
MK Party MP David Skosana warned that a criminal case would be opened against him for walking out of the hearing.
“You are walking out,” Malema and Skosana said.
“I am finished,” O’Sullivan replied before leaving the proceedings.
Malema said only the committee chairperson, Lekganyane, had the authority to excuse him.
Despite the objections, O’Sullivan continued past MPs and exited the hearing, later saying he had to catch his flight.
Didiza previously described the walkout as “unfortunate” and expressed “deep concern” about the incident.
Meanwhile, the EFF confirmed that it had opened a criminal case against O’Sullivan at Cape Town Central Police Station last Friday following his dramatic exit from the parliamentary inquiry.
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