The AM Check-in | Your top 3 reads today

Mchunu bypassed protocol to deliver IGI report to Idac, Ramsamy tells Madlanga

The Independent Directorate Against Corruption’s Drushantha Ramsamy testifies before the Madlanga commission of inquiry at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria. Picture: (Freddy Mavunda)

Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu arranged for the inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) report to be handed over to the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) after the IGI had previously refused to provide it to the directorate.

This is according to Idac’s Drushantha Ramsamy, who told the Madlanga commission on Tuesday that the exchange did not follow the normal processes they when they exchange information with the IGI.

“In September, Mr [Dylan] Perumal [suspended Idac chief investigator] told us the minister, Senzo Mchunu, arranged with someone to fly to him in the Eastern Cape and provide the IGI report,” said Ramsamy.

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WATCH | Gauteng residents brave cold with fires and blankets

Gladys Malapile gathers around a fire with other Johannesburg residents to warm up during freezing weather. Picure: (ANTONIO MUCHAVE)

The biting cold weather in Gauteng has forced informal settlement residents to find ways to keep warm, with many relying heavily on blankets and imbawulas (braziers) as temperatures plunged on Tuesday.

Most residents living in informal settlements do not have electricity, and for many an imbawula is their only source of warmth.

The South African Weather Service has forecast cloudy and cold conditions across Gauteng, accompanied by scattered showers and thundershowers. Light snowfall hit parts of Pretoria in the early morning.

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EXPLAINER | What cabinet’s proposed law changes mean for SA

Rubber boots believed to belong to illegal miners lie near a shaft entrance at a disused mine near Rustenburg, North West, on August 11 2026. Police said on Tuesday that 14 illegal miners had died and scores of others were injured at the mine. Picture: (Siyabonga Sishi)

The government has proposed harsher punishments for illegal miners that could see them being jailed for up to 30 years or fined up to R100m.

This is a according to justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and deputy justice minister Andries Nel, who on Tuesday outlined proposed legislative changes that could significantly affect the fight against illegal mining and the incitement of public violence.

Cabinet recently approved amendments to four bills: the General (Mining) Laws Amendment Bill, Legal Practice Amendment Bill, Regulation of Trusts Bill and the Conspiracy, Instigation and Incitement to Commit Offence Bill.