Mark of a good president is how they defend the office they hold

Not for the first time in his life, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe has found himself having to explain his unfortunate choice of words.

Educating party delegates at the ANC Free State conference about the role of the secretary-general last month, Mantashe, who is also energy minister, said: “The responsibility of the secretary-general is not to take a particular stance saying the president is rubbish if he is embroiled in controversy.

“Your responsibility is to say that the president cannot be rubbish even if there is a fire pool and you go there and find a swimming pool.

“You say it’s a swimming pool but there is a lot of water there in case of a fire, you can use it ... Then you are a secretary-general of the ANC. You are not protecting the president but the office of the president.”

I have very few complaints with the idea of protecting the office of the president.

Where I differ is in limiting this to the secretary-general of the party. It should be the responsibility of all patriots, not just party hacks, to protect the presidency and not just the president.

More importantly, it should be the responsibility of the person occupying the office of the president. The person who is president should never have to make anyone lie or act stupid on their behalf, as Mantashe suggests.

The person in office must never find themselves defending the looting of the state, demanding their followers support them in this act against the people of the country.

Defending such a president is to disrespect the presidency. This responsibility, to defend and respect the presidency should be exercised by all, including the person who at any given time wears the mantle of president. That person should be the first to demonstrate that they respect that office and not just mouth the phrase as part of the excitement of inauguration day. They should carry themselves in a manner that does not bring disrepute to the office. They should impress on their close relatives that they too must at all times ensure that their own conduct is impeccable.

I appreciate that sometimes those associated with the head of state may be adults who choose to behave in ways their relative does not know of, let alone approve of.

We need a president who has a sense of shame and is particular about ensuring that their personal reputation is unimpeachable. We need those who appreciate that holding public office is a privilege and a duty rather than a reward. Only those willing to make themselves servants of the people, rather than their overlords, should be trusted with power. Power should be entrusted to those who feel embarrassed to wield it rather than those who want it at all cost. Such individuals are more likely to give it up at the first sign of impropriety or a loss of enthusiasm for the job.

Part of the matrix to judge whether one has been a good president should be how they defended and enhanced the office they held.

They should ask themselves if anyone looking at how they treated their office would want to emulate them or do everything in their power to obliterate their memory from that office.

So Mantashe must take his message to Luthuli House and the Union Buildings.

He must ask the sitting president if he thinks that with everything he has had to attend to, Phala Phala, the energy crisis, a crumbling economy, escalating levels of crime and more, he has been a credit to the office he occupies; if he has respected the office.

‘‘ Power should not be entrusted to those who want it at all cost