By Thokozani Chilenga-Butao
There is an important question people used to ask before Nkandla, state capture, Thuma Mina and Ramaphoria became the most important issues in South Africa: Who comes first: the country or the ANC?
The party’s democratic-centralism framework means the ANC policy and resolutions are taken during conferences.This is the position of all party members, including the president of the country, as an ANC member.
At the ANC national executive committee (NEC) lekgotla last week, we saw how the ANC, and a particular faction in the party, is trying to revive the democratic-centralism habit.
ANC secretary general Ace Magashule’s statement on the lekgotla outcomes showed how Cyril Ramaphosa — the president of both the ANC and the country — will have to battle a stronghold in the ANC, while showing that the party has the ability to transform the country.
If anyone is asking who comes first, South Africa or the ANC, it is citizen number one himself. […]
