To Madonsela’s shock, the country’s State Security Agency said in March that it is conducting an investigation into the claims that she is a C.I.A. agent. When she visited Parliament in late April to ask for an expanded budget — she said her office had settled 21,170 of 29,303 recent cases but required more staff members — the A.N.C. chairman of a parliamentary justice committee, Mathole Motshekga, said she had “become a law unto herself” and wasted taxpayer money. Later the committee told her that she must now report to it four times a year, as opposed to the usual two required of the other Chapter Nine offices.

All of this, says Malala, the political analyst in Johannesburg, reflects how difficult it is to change the country’s political culture. “How often in the life of a nation do people go for the president of the country on the basis that he spent $20 million on himself?” he says. “Madonsela is doing the best with the resources she’s got. But as long as she’s going after the big fish, there will be attempts to cut her down.”

One evening in Cape Town this February, when it was still light and warm, residents looked up at the sky in annoyance as military helicopters hovered over the compact city between the misty mountains and the sea, announcing Zuma’s arrival at the Houses of Parliament for the annual State of the Nation address. A red carpet, photographers and police officers on horseback greeted attendees in formal attire, including Madonsela, who wore a pink-­and-­red gown. After the speech, there was to be a gala cocktail party and dinner at a cost of almost $400,000 to taxpayers. But most of the opposition politicians wouldn’t make it to the event. As soon as Zuma began his address, he was interrupted by an Economic Freedom Fighters member wanting to know how he would pay back the money for his home renovations — by bank transfer or perhaps by another method? The Assembly speaker ordered the E.F.F. parliamentarians to leave. When they refused, a chaotic brawl broke out between the E.F.F. members, dressed as usual in workers’ and maids’ outfits, and a security team that swept into the room. The security officers dragged the lawmakers through the door. A.N.C. members cheered, and Zuma laughed. The Democratic Alliance walked out in protest.

I found Madonsela in the public protector’s office in downtown Cape Town the next afternoon. With her manicured nails and delicate jewelry, she looked as if she had just come from the previous night’s event. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “There was a time when I felt like crying, but I never had tears.” She spoke slowly, turning over her words. “There was a sense of confusion. I had deep sadness.” The fighting was painful to watch, but she thought it had woken people up. “Yesterday became a catalyst,” she said. A debate was raging over whether the government unconstitutionally allowed police officers into Parliament, but she thought that was beside the point. The situation had to get worse so everyone would understand that after the Nkandla report, things couldn’t just go back to the way they were until the president owned up to wrongdoing. “Somebody had to raise the accountability question,” she said. She just wished the confrontation wasn’t on a day when the world was watching and would think that South Africa had become a banana republic.

At the end of May, Madonsela publicly reconsidered her approach to the president. She said that if she were to do it again, she would have used stronger language in her judgment. She now says that Zuma benefited improperly and unlawfully, not just unduly, from the security upgrades; it’s a distinction that suggests criminality. It took her more than a year to reach this new position, a risky one, after enduring personal and professional attacks that have left her office crippled. She has 160 corruption cases that have been outstanding for more than a year and doesn’t have the resources to hire even contract investigators to tackle the backlog.

The case against Zuma drags on. The Special Investigating Unit is now suing his architect for damages, putting the exorbitant expenses on him. Madonsela still calls herself an optimist, a believer in the country’s democratic project, despite the entrenched resistance to her work. She plans to write another letter to Zuma, she said, imploring him to heed her report. It’s unclear, though, if anyone will be listening.