President Jacob Zuma's comment that the African National Congress (ANC) comes before the country is irresponsible, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EEF) said on Sunday.
"The idea that ANC is above or comes first before South Africa is testimony that we are heading for dictatorship and the death of multiparty democracy because it means they are prepared to become one party state," EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement.
"This is the language of dictators who think they hold monopoly of wisdom and are indispensable."
He said the EFF believed that the country came first and urged South Africans to "reject" the ANC.
Speaking at the ANC KwaZulu-Natal conference on Saturday, Zuma said he believed his party came before the country.
"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," he said in his capacity as ANC president.
Earlier, the Democratic Alliance (DA) called on Zuma to apologise and retract his comment.
The official opposition party said it was a violation of the oath of office he took as president of the country.
"This is unbecoming of a President who has sworn an oath to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa," DA MP Kobus Marais said in a statement.
"It is this kind of sentiment that allows for abuse of power - to the detriment of ordinary citizens - in the name of the ANC."