Anti-graft crusader defies critics to take on the mighty in South Africa

Thuli Madonsela during an interview with The Standard on Saturday at a Nairobi hotel. [PHOTO: FIDELIS KABUNYI/ STANDARD]

When South Africa Public Protector Thuli Madonsela announced that President Jacob Zuma, had unduly benefited from R246million (Sh2.4 billion) of public funds to upgrade his Nkandla estate, she instantly became a ‘marked’ woman.

The ‘unfavourable findings’, in a report titled ‘secure in comfort’ including proposals that Zuma refund monies not specifically used for security upgrades in the renovations, attracted criticism from ruling African National Congress (ANC)- a party she had diligently served in the Apartheid era.