Country first

WHEN President Jacob Zuma told delegates at the ANC provincial conference in Pietermaritzburg that “I argued one time with someone who said the country comes first and I said as much as I understand that I think my organisation, the ANC, comes first”, the reflex among some of his supporters was to blame the media for (again) distorting the president’s words.

The ANC even suggested that Zuma had been quoted out of context.

Our head of state has repeated his assertion: “I reiterate and reaffirm that the ANC comes first. It must come first to all members so that we can together build an ANC that can and will continue leading this country effectively and ensure that the dividends of peace and freedom are enjoyed by all, especially the poor.”

In case anyone thought that the first statements were a slip of the tongue, now we know that the head of state meant every word he said.

That he has returned to the point, controversial as it was when he first made it, speaks to his commitment to this point of view. What the president conveniently misses is that the mission he describes of building the ANC to carry out its historical mandate does not necessarily require that he choose between state and party.

By emphasising that the party comes first, he has given himself the task of saying who or what comes second after his beloved ANC and how he came to the determination that it be so.

That ANC members must do what they can to strengthen their own organisation goes without saying. This holds true for members of other parties as well.

The difference between Zuma and other ANC members is that he has taken an oath of office to place the interest of the republic ahead of any other.

No country can afford to have a head of state who does not prioritise the interest of the country.

While we are not accusing the president of this, he himself suggests that, given a choice between what is best for the party and the state – or anything else, for that matter – he will prioritise the party’s.

Therein lies a problem waiting to happen.