There was a time when the Jacob Zuma saga was for some people an “internal” political matter, of concern only to the African National Congress (ANC) and its communist and labour allies.

Yesterday, for the first time since this saga began, SA caught a glimpse of why it is, and should be, of concern to everybody. Two arms of SA’s law-enforcement agencies, the South African Police Service’s Presidential Protection Unit and the Scorpions, face off over Zuma amid reports of screeching cars and cocked guns. How did we get to this?

Any answer to that question will be determined largely by whether one sees Zuma as the victim par excellence of Machiavellian politics, or as the villain of the piece.

But after yesterday’s dramatic events, it almost does not matter what special place Zuma occupies in this saga. For it has grown bigger than him and the question is: could it grow bigger than SA and engulf this vibrant but fragile democracy?

That is the question that comes to mind when policemen assigned to protect Zuma think they can tell their colleagues from the National Prosecuting Authority what to do and when to do it, as was reportedly the case at Zuma’s house yesterday.

Coming so soon after the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) demanded that President Thabo Mbeki reinstate Zuma as his deputy and quash corruption charges against him, yesterday’s events are troubling.

It would seem Zuma’s bodyguards acted more like a private militia loyal only to Zuma than the policemen they are. That is of grave concern to us. Are taxpayers funding a private militia to guard Zuma?

But it is not only on the grounds of tax that the Zuma saga and recent events (such as Cosatu’s demand) should be of concern to all.

The matter became something of a national issue when Mbeki fired Zuma from his cabinet. It then looked like the whole business might end up as a law-enforcement case when Zuma appeared briefly in court in July, ahead of his corruption trial later this year.

But yesterday we got an indication of just how high the stakes are and how dangerously close to the precipice we could be if this matter is not handled carefully. It is not in the nature of democracies for their law-enforcement agencies to pull guns on each other. It is one thing for the ANC and its allies to throw labels at one another. It is quite another when armed state agencies turn on each other.

That is why we should all be concerned about yesterday’s events.

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.