BLOEMFONTEIN – The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Mangaung Metro has formally laid disciplinary charges against the municipal manager, Sello More.
This follows findings by the Auditor-General, which revealed serious failures in financial management, including investigated irregular expenditure, weak internal controls, and a lack of consequence management.
Tjaart van der Walt, DA Ward Councillor in Mangaung, said the charges extend beyond the AG’s report findings.
“The DA has acted because it has become clear that internal oversight structures, including MPAC, are not ensuring that consequences follow the 2024/25 audit outcomes, but rather protecting cadres at all costs.
“These failures directly affect residents through financial losses, poor governance, and declining service delivery.
“In simple terms, the charges argue that the municipal manager failed to do his job properly, failed to follow the law, and repeatedly failed to act when serious problems were identified. This amounts to serious misconduct, financial misconduct, and gross negligence.”
Van der Walt says under the law, the Executive Mayor must now table this matter before council within seven days, after which council must decide whether to appoint an independent investigator.
Similar charges brought by the DA against a former municipal manager in 2021 ultimately succeeded.
The civic association AfriForum also demanded in a letter to More on Wednesday 22 April that he must resign.
Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s head of the central region, states that the demand for More to resign follows the protracted mismanagement of funds and the deterioration of infrastructure in the metro.
He asserts that the decline in service delivery in Bloemfontein has reached a critical juncture, with new information confirming that more than R1.6 billion has been lost over five years owing to water leakages—a direct consequence of poor management, deficient maintenance, and complete administrative failure.
“Even more shocking is that the municipal manager, Mr More, rewarded himself in 2024 with a salary increase of approximately R700 000 per annum for so-called ‘outstanding performance’. This decision is a slap in the face of every taxpayer who must daily bear the consequences of this failure,” says Grobbelaar.
AfriForum started a petition on 23 April to ask for the resignation of More.
In July 2025 More received 100% for his KPI evaluation.
VF Plus council member Henry Denner said in a council meeting on 31 July 2025 that it is amazing that a metro that is visibly dysfunctional, can evaluate the municipal manager as delivering outstanding service.
The DA calls on the executive mayor Gregory Nthatisi to comply with the law and ensure that this process proceeds without delay.
“Residents of Mangaung deserve an accountable government where wrongdoing and failing service delivery have consequences. The people of Mangaung cannot afford continued failure without consequences,” Van der Walt said.
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