In April 2009, she nailed her colours to the mast as she berated the South African media. She wrote thus: “For seven years, these newspapers and many others surrendered their pages to editorial and caricature to construct the criminal cases against Zuma and project him as “evil”, “corrupt” and “unfit to lead”.
In an interview I had with Munusamy for my research project into the media ethics (09 November 2004: 19:15 to 21:15) she contended that media had a “strange” relationship with Ngcuka. She said of the infamous off-the-record briefing: “it was the last straw.” She told me, she decided to break ranks, “not as a messiah, purely a personal decision,” to expose the Ngcuka’s story so as, “to clear my conscience”.
But, the most enduring legacy of Munusamy factional political activity was her management of a website aptly named, “Friends of Jacob Zuma”. She was the mastermind behind Zuma’s public relations campaign during the latter’s court appearances and of course during the windy road to Polokwane. Zuma’s legal team and his kitchen cabinet always counted on her. She was on first name basis with Zuma. There were more just comrades, but friends. Munusamy flew across the country sharing the “real story” behind Zuma’s prosecution.
However, in October 2010, Munusamy was frog marched out of the Zuma administration screaming and kicking. History records that she leaked sensitive information to the media about Blade Nzimande’s visit to Cuba. This led to the relationship with Nzimande breaking down irrevocable. However, Munusamy lost more than just a job. She lost a home. The ANC had been her home for many years.
Fast forward to 2013 (Mercury, August 29) Munusamy sings a different tune. She wittingly supports the opposition parties’ stance on Zuma that cast him as “evil”, “corrupt” and “unfit to lead”. She even questioned the rationality of the University of Malaysia conferring an Honorary Doctorate in Leadership on Zuma. “It is unclear what criteria the university used to confer the award on Zuma or whether it was aware that eight opposition parties wanted the Constitutional Court to allow them to debate a motion of no confidence in the president,” she wrote. She went on to decry the so-called spiralling levels of corruption and also cast doubt on Zuma’s bona fide. “Accountability remains a moving target when it comes to the Zuma presidency.”
