SAfrica rand recovers on news Manuel could stay on

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand and bonds recouped some of their earlier strong losses on Tuesday after Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's spokeswoman said he was willing to serve under a new president.

The rand earlier tumbled more than 2.5 percent against the dollar after President Thabo Mbeki said he had accepted the resignation of Manuel and several other cabinet members, days after his own announcement he was stepping down.

At 1143 GMT the rand ZAR=D3 traded at 8.07 versus the greenback, after earlier touching 8.2175, compared to Monday's close of 8.01. The yield on the 2015 government bond ZAR157= retreated to 9.0 percent after earlier surging 20 basis points to 9.12. percent. (Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa)