Johannesburg – Acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane is seeking to interdict investigator Paul O’Sullivan from being involved in Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigations into him.
Phahlane, who appointed BDK Attorneys to represent him in the matter, has asked the high court in Pretoria for O’Sullivan and one of his employees, Sarah Trent, to be interdicted from threatening or harassing him, and inciting others to do so.
Phahlane also requested that they be stopped from sharing any information about his personal, professional and private life unless they were allowed to do so by the court.
On Monday, the papers were served on Ipid, O’Sullivan, Trent as well as magistrate JR Tsatsi, who signed the search-and-seizure warrant last month that allowed the police to raid Phahlane’s home near Pretoria.
Phahlane is being investigated for allegedly defeating the ends of justice and corruption related to the building of his personal mansion and the ownership of luxury vehicles, which appear to be beyond his means. O’Sullivan is the complainant in both matters.
In the papers, Phahlane said: “O’Sullivan has unlawfully inveigled his way into what otherwise should be an independent investigation and is unlawfully pursuing a scheme of publicity-seeking, mostly for himself. He is unlawfully attaching himself to Ipid as if he were a member of the SAPS and a member of Ipid.”
He also said he welcomed the investigation, but did not want the case to be manipulated by a “private individual for his own personal gain and profit”.
In the papers, Phahlane also makes reference to emails that were allegedly written by O’Sullivan to him in 2016 which point out large-scale corruption by SAPS generals.
Phahlane said he was given an ultimatum: to do O’Sullivan’s bidding or face his wrath.
He claims to have ignored the emails and, as a result, O’Sullivan presented his information to Ipid, which led to the investigation against him.
Phahlane sets out samples of emails that he says were sent to Lieutenant-General Vinesh Moonoo by O’Sullivan and carbon-copied to him, in which O’Sullivan taunts Moonoo and makes a series of allegations against him.
Phahlane also rejects allegations against him that he misappropriated SAPS funds to buy his wife and himself luxury vehicles. He says he acquired them through vehicle financing.
Phahlane also wants the warrant signed by Tsatsi to be reviewed and set aside.