Pretoria - There is no contradiction between what President Jacob Zuma and Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel have said about the legacy of apartheid, the Presidency said on Thursday.
“Stating that the apartheid legacy and impact still exist and will linger on for a long time does not mean that the President is saying that public servants should use it to excuse laziness and incompetence,” the Presidency said in a statement .
At a ceremony on Wednesday to commemorate the 20 years since SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani was killed, Zuma suggested in his speech that apartheid cannot be blamed for “what is happening in our country now is a mistake”.
“While wanting to see change happening fast in every corner of the country, we are under no illusion that South Africa will automatically and comprehensively change in only 20 years. That is impossible,” Zuma said.
The Presidency said the point President Zuma made was that it is impossible to reverse the legacy of apartheid in only 20 years.
“Having said that, he then emphasised that it must take a shorter period to reverse the impact and called upon public servants and political leadership in government to work harder and faster to bring about a better life.”
Last week, Manuel was reported to have said Apartheid could no longer be blamed for South Africa’s current challenges.
But the Presidency said that Minister Manuel had merely emphasised that public servants should work faster and more efficiently to ensure the improvement of the lives of all.
Zuma added: “While wanting to see change happening fast in every corner of the country, we are under no illusion that South Africa will automatically and comprehensively change in only 20 years. That is impossible. The legacy of apartheid runs too deep and too far back for the democratic administration to reverse it in so short a period”.
“However, as leaders and public servants in this fourth administration, we must work harder and faster and more efficiently, to ensure that true freedom reaches the poor and working class in a shorter time than colonialism and apartheid took to render them pariahs in the land of their birth....
"We don't need to indicate what it is apartheid did. The fact that the country is two in one -- you go to any city, there is a beautiful part and squatters on the other side -- this is not the making of democracy and we can't stop blaming those who caused it," said Zuma. – SAnews.gov.za
