Ranjeni Munusamy blocks ‘abnormal’ and ‘abusive’ Malema

Malema reminded his followers that Munusamy was once a 'friend of Jacob Zuma', neglecting to remind them that he was as well.

Tiso Blackstar associate editor Ranjeni Munusamy appears to have had enough of EFF leader Julius Malema’s attacks against her. She has now blocked Malema on Twitter.

“You are no longer allowed to abuse me publicly and still talk to me privately Mr Malema. Your followers don’t know that you try to maintain relations with us while playing them with your war talk. That [is] the psychology of an abuser. I will no longer allow that,” she tweeted.

“Why would a politician bleat profanities at me at a rally and immediately want to check my timeline for my reaction? It’s abnormal and an abusive psychology,” she added in another tweet.

The manager of “Friends of Jacob Zuma” website also blocked me. pic.twitter.com/PG3mTqCmaL

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 27, 2018

Malema took to Twitter to confirm the blocking, saying: “The manager of ‘Friends of Jacob Zuma’ website also blocked me.”

The EFF leader was referring to the fact that Munusamy was once seen as a Zuma supporter, and was indeed the moderator of the site Malema mentioned by her own admission.

Calling out Munusamy for her earlier support for Zuma is a bit rich coming from Malema, though, considering that around a similar time period, he was among the former president’s fiercest supporters, even defending him when he was accused of rape and saying he would “kill or die” for him.

You are no longer allowed to abuse me publicly and still talk to me privately Mr Malema. Your followers don’t know that you try to maintain relations with us while playing them with your war talk. That the psychology of an abuser. I will no longer allow that. https://t.co/6vTO6PRh5O

— Ranjeni Munusamy (@RanjeniM) November 27, 2018

Why would a politician bleat profanities at me at a rally and immediately want to check my timeline for my reaction? It’s abnormal and an abusive psychology.

— Ranjeni Munusamy (@RanjeniM) November 27, 2018

Malema had attacked Munusamy among other journalists who he labelled the “Ramaphosa defence force” while speaking outside the commission of inquiry into state capture during minister of public enterprises Pravin Gordhan’s testimony. Munusamy was in attendance, watching him “bleat profanities at her”.

Later, she took to Twitter to describe being “accosted by three men in a shop”, most likely EFF supporters, who shouted her surname and mocked her.

The incident was included in a statement by the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) as one of the reasons the organisation wanted to meet with the EFF over its attacks on journalists.

In case there’s still a belief there’s no consequences from what happened this week, I was just accosted by three men in a shop who were shouting my surname and mocking me. Now that I’m going through it, I really wish there had been more support for Suna Venter.

— Ranjeni Munusamy (@RanjeniM) November 23, 2018

The relationship between Munusamy and Malema appears to have deteriorated significantly. The EFF leader was once cordial with several of the journalists he has now attacked. He spoke several times at The Daily Maverick’s annual The Gathering conference, where Munusamy worked at the time.

The publication has since been instrumental in exposing the way the party and its leaders allegedly benefited from the looting of VBS Bank, meaning that it’s unlikely Malema will take a seat at a panel at any future The Gathering events.

A picture of the two together before their relationship took a turn for the worse has been circulating on social media.