Trevor Manuel served as a Cabinet Minister from 1994 to 2014 under the first four Presidents of democratic South Africa: Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma. He was first appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Trade and Industry in May 1994, and in April 1996, he became Finance Minister, steering the South African economy for 13 years as one of the world’s longest serving finance ministers. During his last term in office, he served as Minister in the Presidency responsible for the National Planning Commission, a position he held from May 2009 to May 2014. His ministerial career was characterised by major social progress and economic development.
He also assumed a number of ex officio positions in international bodies, including at the World Bank, IMF, G20, and the African Development Bank, often chosen by peers to lead. He served two terms as Chairperson of the Development Committee of the World Bank.
He was also appointed to serve in various capacities in his own right. He was thus Special Envoy for Financing Development on two occasions, in 2001 and 2008, by successive Secretaries-General of the United Nations. He served on various international commissions, and has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Africa’s Finance Minister of the Year and the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award, and holds eight honorary doctorates. He serves on several boards and has played a leading role in academia, including as Chancellor of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Honorary Professor at UCT’s School of Development Policy & Practice, and Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Johannesburg.
South Africa