In June 1943, he returned to New Zealand on a three-month furlough but when this was completed, was not required to rejoin his battalion. Māori soldiers on furlough were made exempt from active duty. After his discharge from the New Zealand Military Forces in 1946, he was employed as a traffic inspector. After his death in a car crash in 1986, a committee was established to urge the New Zealand Government to make representations to Buckingham Palace for a posthumous award of the VC to Manahi. These efforts were ultimately unsuccessful due to the period of time that had elapsed since the end of the Second World War.