State Capture inquiry set to begin daunting task

[Click here for the web version of this email]( [Daily Maverick] Monday, 20 August 2018 “And the greatest tragedy of our age is we don't listen to our consciences. We don't say what we think. We feel one thing and do another.” Vasily Grossman Story of the Day [Lord Hain requests formal investigation of Leave.EU Brexit campaign’s South African links]( By Marianne Thamm Lord Peter Hain has written to the UK’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, requesting a formal investigation with regard to the source of the funds for a massive donation Brexiteer and Bristol businessman, Arron Banks, made to the Leave.EU campaign. While You Were Sleeping [Zondo Commission begins]( This morning will see that start of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. This will investigate the rot, or extent thereof, of State Capture. The commission could see a veritable rogue's gallery of state officials exposed and testified, ranging from Jacob Zuma to Colonel Capture Brian Molefe. But in the wake of the Seriti Commission, [serious questions]( on the efficacy of these inquiries now linger. [Boko Haram kill six in NE Nigeria]( Boko Haram jihadists attacked a town in north-eastern Nigeria, killing six. The Saturday evening/Sunday morning attack saw widespread looting and destruction, with the six killed being executed by Boko Haram. Local witnesses reported that nearby police did not respond to the attack. No doubt the faith in Nigerian security forces is at an all-time high in the area. [Ceasefire offered to Taliban]( Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban. After he made the announcement via television broadcast on Sunday, the United States welcomed the decision. The Taliban, however, have remained mum. Massive assaults by the militant group Ghazni have hobbled security operations in the province. A ceasefire would allow both sides more equitable negotiating terms. [Bloodied but unbowed: Greece leaves bailout]( After years of heavy austerity measures, Greece finally exited its third and final bailout. The debt-wracked country had received $330-billion in bailouts aimed at fighting its economic crisis. The country has begun generating a budget surplus, with unemployment dipping below 20% - the power, it seems, of having neighbours with deep and forgiving pockets. — [The Rise of Tyranny: New book tracks the patterns and repercussions of state capture]( [Sponsored Content by Wits University Press]( Unless South Africans in future come to regard all forms of state capture as unacceptable, the redistribution of wealth and the development of an inclusive society will not be possible, write Ivor Chipkin and Mark Swilling in their new book, Shadow State: The Politics of State Capture, with Haroon Bhorat, Mbongiseni Buthelezi, Sikhulekile Dumal, Hannah Friedenstein , Lumkile Mondi, Camaren Peter, Nicky Prins, Mzukisi Qobo. [By Mark Swilling and Ivor Chipkin]( Picture of the Day By EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES An earlier picture of then United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan waiting to greet the United States Ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte. According to reports, former UN secretary general Annan died on 18 August 2018 at the age of 80. In Numbers 1 The number of weeks of camping without electronics recommended for those wanting to reset their biological clock. The camping would synchronise your body clock with sunrise and sunset. Facts of the Day Today is World Mosquito Day. Colonel-in-Chief Sir Nils Olav is the name (and rank) of a penguin knighted by Norway. 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