Spy bill: Inspector-General of Intelligence concerned about bill weakening its independence

The General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (Gilab) "in effect, seeks to limit and, in other areas, fails to address the independence of the Office of the Inspector-General", Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI) Imtiaz Fazel told the ad hoc committee processing the bill.

This is in sharp contrast to the recommendations of the Presidential High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency (SSA), which was chaired by former minister Sydney Mufamadi, and the State Capture Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

The panel found that the SSA "had largely become a parallel intelligence structure serving a faction of the ruling party and, in particular, the personal political interests of the sitting president of the party and country".