Dirco to go to Graceland

[Daily Maverick] AFTERNOON THING with JOHN STUPART Thursday, 17 August 2017 WHILE YOU WERE WORKING [Dirco goes to Graceland]( Grace Mugabe's ongoing assault allegations have taken a new twist today. The SAPS have confirmed that they will not move to charge or arrest Grace Mugabe for assaulting a model until Dirco gives the go ahead. Dirco is itself well-known for diplomatic thumb-twiddling, and will now have to juggle Grace Mugabe's invocation of diplomatic immunity versus the rule of law in South Africa. [Germany hits back at Trump far-right defence]( German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has called President Trump's failure to condemn alt-right neo-nazi protestors a "huge mistake." Speaking with media, Gabriel noted that "creating an equivalence between the two sides instead of clearly rejecting the Nazi-leaning side, that was a huge mistake". When Germany questions your criticism of fascism, that's a good indicator of something awry. [Blue light convoy cowboys close M1]( An accident involving the blue light brigade had caused general mayhem on the M1 highway this morning. The accident occurred early in the morning, leaving one person injured and two lanes closed. As much as all would love to lay the blame on the notoriously reckless driving of the blue light brigade, Police officials indicated that a sudden lane change by a taxi caused the accident. [Malian jihadist caused millions in damage]( A war crimes court has ruled that a Malian ex-jihadist caused 2.7 million euros in damages. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, now penniless, was found to be liable for the damages after destroying shrines in Timbuktu. The destruction of priceless artifacts now appear to have a price tag, even if the amount could never be retrieved from al-Mahdi. — FEATURED ARTICLES [Declassified: Apartheid profits – The Sanctions Busters’ Toolkit]( [Declassified: Apartheid profits – The Sanctions Busters’ Toolkit]( BY Open Secrets [Analysis: Ramaphosa’s high-speed response to smear reveals he is at the ready, in the game]( [Analysis: Ramaphosa’s high-speed response to smear reveals he is at the ready, in the game]( BY Stephen Grootes [Op-Ed: How state spying enables state capture]( [Op-Ed: How state spying enables state capture]( BY Jane Duncan OPINIONISTAS [‘Too big to fail’ or not?]( [‘Too big to fail’ or not?]( A column by Fatima Vawda [From the Inside: We all need to do something about child murders]( [From the Inside: We all need to do something about child murders]( A column by Helen Zille [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2017 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick First Thing subscriber list. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](