Former police minister Bheki Cele has drawn attention after describing forensic investigator Paul O’ Sullivan as an “octopus” during his testimony before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Friday.
Cele made the comment while addressing questions about alleged political interference and his past interactions with figures linked to law enforcement oversight.
According to The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), the remarks followed a series of statements by O’ Sullivan in recent months concerning senior police officials and the operations of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
During his appearance, Cele told committee members that O’ Sullivan “even looks like an octopus,” adding that he “is almost all over and speaks about everything, sometimes that he does not know anything about.”
Cele went on to call O’ Sullivan “a shady kind of human being” who is “very much big of himself.”
Cele further referred to O’ Sullivan’s past association with former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, claiming that O’ Sullivan “took Jakey under his wing” and had previously provided security services at airports before being cut off by Selebi.
The former minister also repeated long-circulating claims that O’ Sullivan “belongs to MI6,” the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence agency, without providing any evidence to support this.
The Helen Suzman Foundation responded to the renewed public focus on O’ Sullivan by issuing a clarifying statement regarding his involvement with the organisation.
The foundation said O’ Sullivan’s earlier comments in an online interview had “mischaracterised” his role in legal cases concerning former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) executive director Robert McBride.
The foundation explained that while O’ Sullivan had made a once-off R100,000 donation in 2019, it acted independently in all McBride-related matters and that its legal representatives, Webber Wentzel, had worked pro bono.
The statement made it clear that “HSF’s involvement in the McBride matters was guided solely by our mission to advance constitutionalism and safeguard the independence of key state institutions.”
The remarks by Cele come amid ongoing public attention surrounding O’ Sullivan, who is currently facing a R5 million defamation lawsuit from KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
O’ Sullivan has described the lawsuit as a “desperate attempt to silence a whistleblower,” saying it was intended to intimidate him after he made allegations of misconduct involving senior police officers.
He told IOL News that Mkhwanazi “either hopes to set a national record for damages or he hopes to silence me,” adding that he would continue cooperating with the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into criminality and political interference in the police service.
The parliamentary ad hoc committee hearings continue to examine alleged interference and corruption in law enforcement structures.
It remains unclear whether Cele’s comments will prompt a formal response from Parliament or O’ Sullivan’s legal representatives.
