Fuck Yeah! Africa Rocks!

lostarkestra: Fela Kuti

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:41:24 +0800

Fela Kuti

typicalugandan: Empengyere; For many generations, people in...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:06:17 +0800

Empengyere; For many generations, people in Kigezi region, mainly the Bakiga, have enjoyed this delicacy.
This corn-based (maize) meal is normally mixed with beans and at times some greens to make a treat enjoyed by many who taste it.

Recipe

Ingredients

One needs four basic ingredients to cook the meal; water, maize corn, beans and rock salt. However in the modern way of cooking, several other ingredients like green peppers, small egg plants or even greens can be added to make the meal more tasty and interesting.

Well sorted and cleaned corn and beans

A sizeable pan as the cooked maize will expand to the top of the pan.

Water and enough fuel is also needed for a long wait.

For two kilogrammes of maize, you need at least five litres of water a sizeable pan that can accommodate such an amount of water.

Cooking is just a matter of boiling corn with water; the process would take up to five hours before it is completely ready for eating. One must ensure that the fire boiling the maize is steady at all times.

The Process

Put water in the pan and add corn, put on fire and start boiling.

After one hour of boiling, add rock salt to increase the temperature of the boiling water and quicken the process. Boil for another hour and add beans to the corn. Leave to boil for another hour and then add more rock salt to the mixture.

You would have to add water more than three times because of the expanding maize and beans. 40 minutes after adding the rock salt one can then put other ingredients of choice in the mixture. You can add vegetables like bean leaves or black night shade to give it a taste. However, it’s always better to leave it to boil without additives to ensure an original taste.

(Via Daily Monitor)

everything-ghana: What does it mean when africans say “you go kill me shy” ??? Do AFRICANS...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:33:56 +0800

everything-ghana:

What does it mean when africans say “you go kill me shy” ???

Do AFRICANS say that? CHECK YOURSELF.

oppressedbrowngirlsdoingthings: barf. LOL Africa black. What...

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 23:45:18 +0800

oppressedbrowngirlsdoingthings:

barf.

LOL Africa black. What in the world is Africa black? People are so funny.

searchingforknowledge: aphoticoccurrences: fuckyeahafricarocks:...

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:52:00 +0800

searchingforknowledge:

aphoticoccurrences:

fuckyeahafricarocks:

carosene:

fuckyeahafricarocks:

Did Caster Semenya Lose the Women’s 800 Meters on Purpose?

Russia’s Mariya Savinova, the reigning women’s world champion in the 800 meters, won the Olympic gold medal on Saturday night. Even so, the Russian got second billing behind the second-place finisher, South Africa’s Caster Semenya. In 2009, Semenya won the world title in the 800 as an 18-year-old. Her reward was being kept out of competition for 11 months while her sport’s governing body investigated her gender. Back on the track, and racing against women, Semenya spent most of tonight’s race at the back of the pack, making her move only in the final 200 meters. It was enough to get her on the podium, but not to win Olympic gold.

After the race, track and field aficionados questioned her tactics. The BBC’s David Ornstein said it appeared that Semenya “had more left in the tank.” His story quoted BBC commentator Kelly Holmes, who won this event in the 2004 Olympics, suggesting that Semenya hadn’t made her best effort: “She looked very strong, she didn’t look like she went up a gear, she wasn’t grimacing at all. I don’t know if her head was in it, when she crossed the line she didn’t look affected.” Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden tweeted that Semenya “seemed oddly disengaged most of race and not tired at end.”

In her post-race interview, Semenya said, “The body was not really on fire today.” But the spring in her step at the end of the race—Layden said she “seemed aerobically relaxed two steps past finish line”—led others to speculate that she had pulled a badminton moveand tanked the race. Why would someone intentionally perform below their standard in the biggest race in four years? One South African track and field observer suggested that it might be “scandal avoidance”—her 2009 triumph brought such unpleasant consequences that she’d just as soon avoid further scrutiny, and an Olympic silver medal brings considerably less attention than the gold.

This response was predictable. In fact, Sports Illustrated’s David Epstein called it in a piece published days before the final: “If Semenya wins the gold, she is likely to be accused of having an unfair advantage. If she runs poorly, she is likely to be accused of sandbagging the race so as not to be accused of having an unfair advantage.”

Epstein summarized the response that followed her high-profile breakthrough in 2009, a year in which she improved her personal best in the 800 meters by more than eight seconds. “The combination of her stunning drop in time, her deep voice, and her armor-like torso elicited venom from some of her competitors,” he wrote. It also led the International Association of Athletics Federations to investigate Semenya’s gender makeup.

Neither the IAAF nor Semenya’s camp have revealed the results of the tests. That doesn’t mean that press outlets haven’t speculated on them—an “allegedly” here or a “reportedly” there often precedes the conjecture. Here SI’s Epstein’s version: “the results … reportedly showed that while Semenya has external female genitalia, she has internal testes, no womb or ovaries and elevated levels of testosterone. This means that she has what doctors call a disorder of sexual development, and has some traits that are typically associated with women and others that are typically associated with men.”

Semenya’s decision not to discuss her hormones and ovaries with strangers likely means that her athletic performance will always be questioned. Is she tanking? Is she being slowed down by hormone treatments? Is she tactically inept? Was her body just insufficiently fiery? I suspect that even if she started every press conference by reciting her estrogen level that day, she’d still be suspect. Described—admiringly—by the New Yorker’s Ariel Levy as “breathtakingly butch,” Semenya is unapologetically strong and muscular—she’s often photographed flexing her biceps, and she made a similar gesture on the medal podium Saturday evening. (A non-standard gender presentation means nothing, of course. I’m called “sir” at least twice a week. That doesn’t mean I can run fast.)

At the end of a long blog post at the Science of Sport blog, Ross Tucker encouraged Semenya to open up about the IAAF’s findings: “If Semenya is to win people over, as she should … then the secrecy must be lifted.” I agree.

Semenya has never run faster than she did the day she won the world title in 2009. If she is sabotaging her races to minimize scrutiny, the tactic is obviously failing—she has already received much more attention than anyone else in the Olympic final. But I suspect that her issues are psychological. Three years ago, the IAAF humiliated her publicly and subjected her to all manner of intrusive physical tests. Track and field’s powers that be eventually cleared her to race, but the whispering will continue until she releases the results. If she doesn’t want to reveal her medical history to millions of nosey strangers, it might be best for her to stay out of the spotlight altogether. That would be a tragedy, but at least it would end all the muttering.

This article has some quality points—I’m glad that people are talking about people talking about whether Caster sabotaged her race.

I agree with the writer—Caster didn’t seem like she’d ran the race of her life, but based on the things she said afterwards—not just about not being on fire, but also she said that her coach would be mad at her—it didn’t seem like this was a strategy. I think it was psychological.

However, I disagree wholeheartedly on the idea that Caster needs to come out with the exact state of her genitals and hormone levels. No matter what the results are, people are not going to stop talking. If she’s even a little bit intersex, which she probably is, people are going to say that she has an advantage. And hasn’t her privacy been invaded enough?

The writer’s dilemma—tell us about your genitals or go home for your own sake—is a false one. Let’s all agree, the muttering is stupid, but you don’t tell an Olympic champion to stop competing because a few people suspect she threw her race.

Caster, you’re amazing, keep up the good work, and I’ll see you in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

I think Caster will always have someone saying something about her. At such a young age, when she should have been celebrating an amazing achievement in her career, she was humiliated and made to feel like there is something wrong with her womanhood - that probably changed a lot of things for her. It’s traumatic and it shouldn’t happen to anyone. The amount of coverage that has been dedicated to this woman’s genitalia and hormones or lack thereof is still insane and always takes away from her immense talent. She shouldn’t have to publicise anything - the “scientists” have deemed her “woman enough” - whatever that is - to compete against other women, so she shouldn’t have to open herself up to even more public abuse and humiliation - no human being deserves that. I know her country is behind her, and I think fellow women should be too, as should her fellow competitors.

i saw the race and thought the same thing. she was cruising for 90% of the race in dead last, and 5 seconds til the finish line she amped it up and passed damn near all the chicks? i think it definitely was psychological and i really hate that she had to go through all she went through. her heart may not be in it anymore after how she’s been treated.

Yo. FUCK the writer for demanding that Caster be telling all of us all bout her bodily makeup. THE PROBLEM ISN’T CASTER. ITS US. IT. IS. US. IT IS US, STUFFED WITH WHITE EUROPEAN IDEAS OF WHAT MAKES WOMEN WOMEN WHICH IS BE AS MUCH LIKE THIN WHITE WOMEN AS YOU CAN THATS THE PROBLEM. WE NEED TO FIX OURSELVES, AND LEAVE THIS WOMAN TO LIVE HER LIFE.

Bolded. And then the media that perpetuates those standards and is even malicious enough to continue feeding those conversations.

carosene: fuckyeahafricarocks: Did Caster Semenya Lose the...

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:34:01 +0800

carosene:

fuckyeahafricarocks:

Did Caster Semenya Lose the Women’s 800 Meters on Purpose?

Russia’s Mariya Savinova, the reigning women’s world champion in the 800 meters, won the Olympic gold medal on Saturday night. Even so, the Russian got second billing behind the second-place finisher, South Africa’s Caster Semenya. In 2009, Semenya won the world title in the 800 as an 18-year-old. Her reward was being kept out of competition for 11 months while her sport’s governing body investigated her gender. Back on the track, and racing against women, Semenya spent most of tonight’s race at the back of the pack, making her move only in the final 200 meters. It was enough to get her on the podium, but not to win Olympic gold.

After the race, track and field aficionados questioned her tactics. The BBC’s David Ornstein said it appeared that Semenya “had more left in the tank.” His story quoted BBC commentator Kelly Holmes, who won this event in the 2004 Olympics, suggesting that Semenya hadn’t made her best effort: “She looked very strong, she didn’t look like she went up a gear, she wasn’t grimacing at all. I don’t know if her head was in it, when she crossed the line she didn’t look affected.” Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden tweeted that Semenya “seemed oddly disengaged most of race and not tired at end.”

In her post-race interview, Semenya said, “The body was not really on fire today.” But the spring in her step at the end of the race—Layden said she “seemed aerobically relaxed two steps past finish line”—led others to speculate that she had pulled a badminton moveand tanked the race. Why would someone intentionally perform below their standard in the biggest race in four years? One South African track and field observer suggested that it might be “scandal avoidance”—her 2009 triumph brought such unpleasant consequences that she’d just as soon avoid further scrutiny, and an Olympic silver medal brings considerably less attention than the gold.

This response was predictable. In fact, Sports Illustrated’s David Epstein called it in a piece published days before the final: “If Semenya wins the gold, she is likely to be accused of having an unfair advantage. If she runs poorly, she is likely to be accused of sandbagging the race so as not to be accused of having an unfair advantage.”

Epstein summarized the response that followed her high-profile breakthrough in 2009, a year in which she improved her personal best in the 800 meters by more than eight seconds. “The combination of her stunning drop in time, her deep voice, and her armor-like torso elicited venom from some of her competitors,” he wrote. It also led the International Association of Athletics Federations to investigate Semenya’s gender makeup.

Neither the IAAF nor Semenya’s camp have revealed the results of the tests. That doesn’t mean that press outlets haven’t speculated on them—an “allegedly” here or a “reportedly” there often precedes the conjecture. Here SI’s Epstein’s version: “the results … reportedly showed that while Semenya has external female genitalia, she has internal testes, no womb or ovaries and elevated levels of testosterone. This means that she has what doctors call a disorder of sexual development, and has some traits that are typically associated with women and others that are typically associated with men.”

Semenya’s decision not to discuss her hormones and ovaries with strangers likely means that her athletic performance will always be questioned. Is she tanking? Is she being slowed down by hormone treatments? Is she tactically inept? Was her body just insufficiently fiery? I suspect that even if she started every press conference by reciting her estrogen level that day, she’d still be suspect. Described—admiringly—by the New Yorker’s Ariel Levy as “breathtakingly butch,” Semenya is unapologetically strong and muscular—she’s often photographed flexing her biceps, and she made a similar gesture on the medal podium Saturday evening. (A non-standard gender presentation means nothing, of course. I’m called “sir” at least twice a week. That doesn’t mean I can run fast.)

At the end of a long blog post at the Science of Sport blog, Ross Tucker encouraged Semenya to open up about the IAAF’s findings: “If Semenya is to win people over, as she should … then the secrecy must be lifted.” I agree.

Semenya has never run faster than she did the day she won the world title in 2009. If she is sabotaging her races to minimize scrutiny, the tactic is obviously failing—she has already received much more attention than anyone else in the Olympic final. But I suspect that her issues are psychological. Three years ago, the IAAF humiliated her publicly and subjected her to all manner of intrusive physical tests. Track and field’s powers that be eventually cleared her to race, but the whispering will continue until she releases the results. If she doesn’t want to reveal her medical history to millions of nosey strangers, it might be best for her to stay out of the spotlight altogether. That would be a tragedy, but at least it would end all the muttering.

This article has some quality points—I’m glad that people are talking about people talking about whether Caster sabotaged her race.

I agree with the writer—Caster didn’t seem like she’d ran the race of her life, but based on the things she said afterwards—not just about not being on fire, but also she said that her coach would be mad at her—it didn’t seem like this was a strategy. I think it was psychological.

However, I disagree wholeheartedly on the idea that Caster needs to come out with the exact state of her genitals and hormone levels. No matter what the results are, people are not going to stop talking. If she’s even a little bit intersex, which she probably is, people are going to say that she has an advantage. And hasn’t her privacy been invaded enough?

The writer’s dilemma—tell us about your genitals or go home for your own sake—is a false one. Let’s all agree, the muttering is stupid, but you don’t tell an Olympic champion to stop competing because a few people suspect she threw her race.

Caster, you’re amazing, keep up the good work, and I’ll see you in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

I think Caster will always have someone saying something about her. At such a young age, when she should have been celebrating an amazing achievement in her career, she was humiliated and made to feel like there is something wrong with her womanhood - that probably changed a lot of things for her. It’s traumatic and it shouldn’t happen to anyone. The amount of coverage that has been dedicated to this woman’s genitalia and hormones or lack thereof is still insane and always takes away from her immense talent. She shouldn’t have to publicise anything - the “scientists” have deemed her “woman enough” - whatever that is - to compete against other women, so she shouldn’t have to open herself up to even more public abuse and humiliation - no human being deserves that. I know her country is behind her, and I think fellow women should be too, as should her fellow competitors.

typicalugandan: Stephen Kiprotich wins gold in the men’s...

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:21:04 +0800

typicalugandan:

Stephen Kiprotich wins gold in the men’s Olympic marathon. Uganda’s first medal at the london olympic games this year; Uganda’s first Olympic medal since 1996, Uganda’s only gold since the Great John Akii Bua!!!

Stephen Kiprotich took gold and his first major title in a time of 2 hours 8 minutes 1 second.

Did Caster Semenya Lose the Women’s 800 Meters on...

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:10:02 +0800

Did Caster Semenya Lose the Women’s 800 Meters on Purpose?

Russia’s Mariya Savinova, the reigning women’s world champion in the 800 meters, won the Olympic gold medal on Saturday night. Even so, the Russian got second billing behind the second-place finisher, South Africa’s Caster Semenya. In 2009, Semenya won the world title in the 800 as an 18-year-old. Her reward was being kept out of competition for 11 months while her sport’s governing body investigated her gender. Back on the track, and racing against women, Semenya spent most of tonight’s race at the back of the pack, making her move only in the final 200 meters. It was enough to get her on the podium, but not to win Olympic gold.

After the race, track and field aficionados questioned her tactics. The BBC’s David Ornstein said it appeared that Semenya “had more left in the tank.” His story quoted BBC commentator Kelly Holmes, who won this event in the 2004 Olympics, suggesting that Semenya hadn’t made her best effort: “She looked very strong, she didn’t look like she went up a gear, she wasn’t grimacing at all. I don’t know if her head was in it, when she crossed the line she didn’t look affected.” Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden tweeted that Semenya “seemed oddly disengaged most of race and not tired at end.”

In her post-race interview, Semenya said, “The body was not really on fire today.” But the spring in her step at the end of the race—Layden said she “seemed aerobically relaxed two steps past finish line”—led others to speculate that she had pulled a badminton moveand tanked the race. Why would someone intentionally perform below their standard in the biggest race in four years? One South African track and field observer suggested that it might be “scandal avoidance”—her 2009 triumph brought such unpleasant consequences that she’d just as soon avoid further scrutiny, and an Olympic silver medal brings considerably less attention than the gold.

This response was predictable. In fact, Sports Illustrated’s David Epstein called it in a piece published days before the final: “If Semenya wins the gold, she is likely to be accused of having an unfair advantage. If she runs poorly, she is likely to be accused of sandbagging the race so as not to be accused of having an unfair advantage.”

Epstein summarized the response that followed her high-profile breakthrough in 2009, a year in which she improved her personal best in the 800 meters by more than eight seconds. “The combination of her stunning drop in time, her deep voice, and her armor-like torso elicited venom from some of her competitors,” he wrote. It also led the International Association of Athletics Federations to investigate Semenya’s gender makeup.

Neither the IAAF nor Semenya’s camp have revealed the results of the tests. That doesn’t mean that press outlets haven’t speculated on them—an “allegedly” here or a “reportedly” there often precedes the conjecture. Here SI’s Epstein’s version: “the results … reportedly showed that while Semenya has external female genitalia, she has internal testes, no womb or ovaries and elevated levels of testosterone. This means that she has what doctors call a disorder of sexual development, and has some traits that are typically associated with women and others that are typically associated with men.”

Semenya’s decision not to discuss her hormones and ovaries with strangers likely means that her athletic performance will always be questioned. Is she tanking? Is she being slowed down by hormone treatments? Is she tactically inept? Was her body just insufficiently fiery? I suspect that even if she started every press conference by reciting her estrogen level that day, she’d still be suspect. Described—admiringly—by the New Yorker’s Ariel Levy as “breathtakingly butch,” Semenya is unapologetically strong and muscular—she’s often photographed flexing her biceps, and she made a similar gesture on the medal podium Saturday evening. (A non-standard gender presentation means nothing, of course. I’m called “sir” at least twice a week. That doesn’t mean I can run fast.)

At the end of a long blog post at the Science of Sport blog, Ross Tucker encouraged Semenya to open up about the IAAF’s findings: “If Semenya is to win people over, as she should … then the secrecy must be lifted.” I agree.

Semenya has never run faster than she did the day she won the world title in 2009. If she is sabotaging her races to minimize scrutiny, the tactic is obviously failing—she has already received much more attention than anyone else in the Olympic final. But I suspect that her issues are psychological. Three years ago, the IAAF humiliated her publicly and subjected her to all manner of intrusive physical tests. Track and field’s powers that be eventually cleared her to race, but the whispering will continue until she releases the results. If she doesn’t want to reveal her medical history to millions of nosey strangers, it might be best for her to stay out of the spotlight altogether. That would be a tragedy, but at least it would end all the muttering.

Chappal Waddi is a mountain in Nigeria and, at 2,419 meters, is...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:17:09 +0800

Chappal Waddi is a mountain in Nigeria and, at 2,419 meters, is the country’s highest point. It is located in Taraba State, near the border with Cameroon, in the Gashaka Forest Reserve.

jimchuchu: Yay!!! atane: Just a Band is a Kenyan group that...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:08:57 +0800

jimchuchu:

Yay!!!

atane:

Just a Band is a Kenyan group that describes themselves as Africa’s Super-Nerdy Electronic Music/Art collective.

These are some pics I took from their show last weekend.

"Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it [was] in the brave days..."

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 21:42:17 +0800

“Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it [was] in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight! We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”

- Yaa Asantewaa (via collective-history)

TENA NA TENA, TENA NA TENA!

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:03:56 +0800

TENA NA TENA, TENA NA TENA!

ghanailoveyou: Blitz The Ambassador’s Band (by atane1980)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 01:09:09 +0800

ghanailoveyou:

Blitz The Ambassador’s Band (by atane1980)

are the people in charge still debating whether or not global warming actually exists?!

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:47:44 +0800

Trucks line up along the N3 on-ramp in Harrismith, South Africa,...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:46:25 +0800

Trucks line up along the N3 on-ramp in Harrismith, South Africa, after snow in the Free State town forced officials to close the major route between Villiers and Van Reenen’s Pass.

SA helped land Curiosity Mars rover A South African team helped...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:43:03 +0800

SA helped land Curiosity Mars rover

A South African team helped Nasa to land the Curiosity rover on Mars, the SA National Space Agency (Sansa) says.

The agency was proud to be part of Monday’s historic touch-down on the red planet, international business manager Tiaan Strydom said.

“This is one of the most important explorations of space by one of the most advanced space-faring nations in the world; and as Sansa we celebrate this event with the rest of humanity.”

Curiosity was a US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) rover equipped to look for and analyse soil and rock samples for signs of alien life.

Due to its plutonium battery, Curiosity was able to work around the clock, as opposed to its solar-powered predecessors, like Spirit and Opportunity.

Managing director of Sansa space operations Raoul Hodges said the satellite tracking, telemetry (remote measurement and collection of data), and command team had demonstrated its expertise and proved it was capable of supporting most large-scale space missions.

Curiosity’s mission is expected to last at least one Martian year, which equates to 686 earth days. During this time, it would assess whether Mars had ever supported microbial life.

Muhumuza, a rebel leader and priestess, arrested by the Germans...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:36:27 +0800

Muhumuza, a rebel leader and priestess, arrested by the Germans in 1908 and the British in 1911. She spent the last few decades of her life interned in Kampala, supported by four servants and selling her cows’ milk. The colonisers feared her influence and spirit medium fame, so she was never allowed to return to the southwest of Uganda. But that didn’t stop her from secretly initiating many visitors into the rituals of Nyabingi, the traditional goddess of fertility.

She was later described as:
“By dint of years of training, she has acquired a high falsetto voice and professes inability to walk normally, her method of position being on tip-toe in a crouching position with the aid of two sticks. The chiefs with scarcely an exception trembled whenever her look was directed towards them.”

You can read more about her here and here

(via Studio Edirisa)

tuffage: View of Bantama, Ashanti Region - Ghana.

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:36:24 +0800

tuffage:

View of Bantama, Ashanti Region - Ghana.

366flags: CÔTE D’IVOIRECôte d’Ivoire is a country in West...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:36:18 +0800

366flags:

CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Côte d’Ivoire is a country in West Africa. It has an area of 322,462 square kilometres and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country’s population was estimated to be 20,617,068 in 2009.

Prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. There were two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, which attempted to retain their separate identity through the French colonial period and after independence. An 1843–1844 treaty made Ivory Coast a protectorate of France and in 1893, it became a French colony as part of the European scramble for Africa. [Source: Wikipedia]

Further Information:

Country Info

Flag Info

South Africa's corruption crusader Thuli Madonsela

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:05:55 +0800

“She’s not a superwoman, she’s just an ordinary person doing her job” is one anti-corruption campaigner’s blunt assessment of Thuli Madonsela, the woman the press often calls just Thuli.

Her investigations have led to the sacking of some of the most senior figures in the state, most recently the country’s former police chief, Bheki Cele, who was suspended over a property leasing scandal in 2011.

The softly spoken mother of two has become a one-woman corruption crusader.

David Lewis, chief executive of the newly launched campaign group Corruption Watch has described her as “South Africa’s most important bulwark against corruption”, who has inspired hope among millions of citizens looking for better service delivery.

Although her title of public protector may sound mundane, Mrs Madonsela has captured the imagination of South Africans and the media for her no-nonsense style and her ability to deliver.

Add to that her credentials as a former lawyer in the trade union movement during the fight against white minority rule and her involvement in the drafting of South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution, and she’s earned the respect of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and opposition alike.

Our BBC documentary team has had exclusive access to Thuli Madonsela over the past few months, trailing her as she oversees some 14,000 investigations.

Our own probes have unearthed inflated water tenders in North West province, newly built schools without any furniture in the Eastern Cape and appalling sewage conditions in Bram Fischerville, Soweto. All of these are now being investigated by Mrs Madonsela’s team.

“I don’t remember it being this bad,” Mrs Madonsela confided after we took her to Soweto, to see for herself the squalor of overflowing drains that have been left unattended for years.

Embodying Hope

Wading through raw sewage in a smart set of high heels and wincing at the unidentifiable waste swirling at her feet, Mrs Madonsela described how she grew up in Soweto, the proud heart of the liberation struggle rule. And yet, “things were different then”.

She accepts Justice Minister Jeff Radebe’s argument that “300 years of colonial rule and 40 years of apartheid” cannot be corrected overnight, and that the seeds of corruption were sown long before the first post-apartheid elections in 1994.

But, she says, if “visible action is taken” against corrupt officials now, then it sends the message to people that “if you are thinking about it - then don’t”.

In other countries, like Kenya, the task of rooting out corruption has been a lonely one. I first met anti-corruption tsar John Githongo when he fled into exile after he handed the BBC sensational tapes implicating very senior ministers in corruption back in 2005.

But in South Africa, the task of rooting out corruption is distributed among several agencies.

“It spreads the risk” - this is the assessment of Willie Hofmeyr, the deputy director of National Prosecutions, who says though a “great deal is being done now”, he is “disappointed at the slow rate of progress”.

The implication is that if one investigating agency gets cornered, another can still pursue a case.

South Africa has shown that, with a free press and independent courts, it still has a chance of winning the war on corruption, and in many ways, Mrs Madonsela embodies that hope.

Wounding enemies

The public protector has risen out of the bureaucratic morass to become a breath of fresh air for a South African public clamouring for more accountability from their public servants and leaders.

She has called for constructive dialogue rather than a repeat of recent rioting against poor services, and has been promised by ministers that despite past attempts to muddy her name, she will be allowed to do her job, whatever her investigations unearth.

With the ANC’s national elective conference in Mangaung scheduled for the end of the year, the stakes are higher than ever.

Mrs Madonsela knows that corruption allegations can be used to wound political enemies.

In our film, Thuli’s daughter, Wenzile, asks over the breakfast table: ”How does it feel to be South Africa’s biggest tell-tale?”

Thuli laughs and shrugs it off with a joke, but with four more years in the job, she knows that there are still many noses she could put out of joint.