Last week Trevor Manuel, Minister in the Presidency and the person responsible for the National Development Plan, in an address to a conference of senior public servants, among other things said:  "We cannot continue to blame apartheid for our failings as a State. We cannot plead ignorance or inexperience. We should get up every morning and recognise that we have responsibilities. For almost two decades, the public has been patient in the face of mediocre services. The time for change, for a ruthless focus on implementation has come. The lack of rigour and the absence of "consequences" bedevils the best laid policies. There is the fundamental problem that we cannot begin to transform South Africa to the kind of country with the type of opportunities forseen by the drafters of our still-young Constitution. We need to guard against the risk of an "opt-out society" defined by the reality of people having to opt out of public services because the quality is so poor".

Manuel's speech was widely reported and deservedly so. It represents more than just a line in the sand. It has significant and positive consequences. Firstly, he is correct in saying that many of South Africa's present failings have nothing to do with apartheid. For example, what has the corruption, the consistent failure to deliver school books on time, the shambles in state corporations, the squandering of public funds and the lack of financial controls to do with apartheid? But nobody has had the guts to acknowledge this. Secondly, he has highlighted the distinction between the State and the public service on the one hand, and the ruling party and politicians on the other – a distinction which has increasingly become blurred.  Thirdly, he drove home the necessity of a neutral and professional public service. In so doing, he undermined the ANC's policy of cadre deployment.

Fourthly, by reducing if not eliminating apartheid as a factor in present-day South African politics, he has opened our politics to the play of more objective and rational considerations, thereby strengthening the claims of opposition – whether in politics, civil society, or the media. In fact, the speech – especially given its wide publicity and  the forum in which it was delivered – has significantly contributed to changing the parameters of political debate in the country.

Notwithstanding President Jacob Zuma’s reaction and other ANC critics, Manuel can only have bolstered his status within the country. He has raised the possibility of a very serious national debate. And the business sector, the media, universities and professions need to get involved.  In expressing these views Manuel is strongly supported by Lindiwe Sizulu, Minister of Administration and the Public Service, and no doubt others.