Trevor Manuel has been appointed a Minister in the Presidency: Planning (South Africa) in May 2009. Prior to that, he held a post of Minister of Finance (since June 1996). He has held several positions in the public sector during the past 25 years. His political career started as the Secretary of the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee (1981). After only two years he helped found United Democratic Front, becoming its Regional Secretary and National Executive Member in 1983.

In May 1989, Mr. Manuel was employed by the Mobil Foundation as a Policy Manager on Entrepreneurial and Community Development but after a couple of years he returned to public office when he was elected to the African National Congress (ANC) in 1991. During his tenure at the ANC he was involved in several economic planning committees, and was appointed as Head of the ANC's Department of Economic Planning (1991-1994), where he was responsible for the shaping of the ANC's economic policy.

Mr. Manuel has held several positions in multilateral institutions including appointments as Governor on the Board of the World Bank and the African Development Bank Group, among others. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Initiative for Trade Efficiency (August 1994). Mr. Manuel has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years: he was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow (January 1994), awarded the Africa Prize by the German Africa Foundation, jointly with the then South African Minister of Finance, Derek Keys (September 1994), inducted as a member of South African Academy of Engineering (February 2001), as well as having received several honorary doctorates from South African universities.