of increased prosperity, high commodity prices and a wider tax base were credited with the surge of revenue. Manuel increased spending for education, housing and sanitation. In the 2002 election to the ANC's National Executive Committee, Manuel placed first. At the ANC conference in Polokwane in December 2007, he was again elected to the National Executive Committee, this time in 57th place with 1,590 votes. In April 2008 Manuel was announced chancellor of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. In September 2008, the International Monetary Fund commissioned a "Committee on IMF Governance Reform", to be chaired by Manuel. This report was submitted in March 2009. According to papers seen by The Citizen, Manuel allegedly approved a contract on modernisation at the SA Revenue Service (Sars), worth R100 million, currently standing at R1 billion, without following due processes. In August 2017, HAWK reportedly asked Trevour Manuel and Pravin Gordhan to provide an affidavit on setting up SARS intelligence unit to spy on politicians. Resignation and re-appointment On 23 September 2008, Trevor Manuel resigned as Finance Minister along with a number of other cabinet members after the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki, unsettling the financial market, but it was subsequently announced that he would be willing to continue to serve under the next president. Manuel explained the resignation as a principled gesture, and he expressed surprise at the market's reaction. He was retained in his post in the cabinet of Mbeki's successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, which was announced on 25 September. Public spat with Jimmy Manyi On 2 March 2011, Manuel published an open letter to Jimmy Manyi, the spokesperson for the South African government, in which he accused him of racism and compared him to Hendrik Verwoerd. This letter was precipitated by the remarks that Manyi made about a change in the labour laws he had proposed in his previous position of Director-General of Labour. These changes affect the racial quota that employers in South Africa are to apply to their work force. Previously they needed to reflect the ethnic composition of the local community; this would now be changed to the composition of the country as a whole. Such a change would have severe consequences for the Coloured community of the Western Cape as well as for the Indian community of KwaZulu-Natal. For the former only 10% of jobs would be available in regions where they form a 60% majority. Manyi