{"id":117322,"date":"2026-07-28T13:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/?p=117322"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:21:59","slug":"afriforum-welcomes-independent-investigation-into-mangaung-metros-city-manager-but-warns-against-political-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/afriforum-welcomes-independent-investigation-into-mangaung-metros-city-manager-but-warns-against-political-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"AfriForum welcomes independent investigation into Mangaung Metro\u2019s City Manager but warns against political interference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Christo-Groenewald_28-July-2026_ENG.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Christo Groenewald (English)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Christo-Groenewald_28-Julie-2026_AFR.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Christo Groenewald (Afrikaans)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AfriForum welcomes the Mangaung Metro Council\u2019s decision to appoint an independent investigator to probe allegations of financial mismanagement, maladministration, and management failures against Sello More, the Metro\u2019s Municipal Manager. The civil rights organisation, however, emphasises that it is critical for this investigation to be free from political interference and completed within the prescribed timeframe and for the findings to be published upon the conclusion of the investigation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appointment of an independent investigator follows, among other things, widespread allegations of mismanagement against More and comes in response to findings from a report by the Auditor-General released in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this year, AfriForum called on More to vacate his position. In April, the organisation argued that More should resign immediately due to serious and ongoing financial mismanagement and other administrative issues plaguing the Metro. AfriForum maintains that these issues damage the Metro\u2019s credibility and hinder service delivery. Moreover, despite the Metro\u2019s poor performance record, More rewarded himself in 2024 with a massive salary increase of approximately R700 000 for so-called \u201coutstanding performance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Christo Groenewald, AfriForum\u2019s District Coordinator for Bloemfontein, the metro\u2019s council acknowledges \u2013 through its decision to commission an independent investigation \u2013 that the allegations against More are serious enough to warrant a proper investigation. \u201cThe residents of the Mangaung Metro deserve a municipal administration that acts accountably and is managed in the interest of the community,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Groenewald warns that the investigation must not merely be a procedural exercise but, if allegations of mismanagement against More are confirmed, must lead to decisive action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPublic confidence in the Metro has already been severely eroded by years of poor governance, financial mismanagement and inadequate service delivery. Should the investigation uncover sufficient evidence of misconduct, the Metro Council must take disciplinary action and, where necessary, refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities. No one is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum will closely monitor the investigation to ensure that transparency, accountability and good governance are upheld for the benefit of residents in the Mangaung Metro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum continues its call for More\u2019s resignation. Add your voice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/sello-more-should-resign-stop-the-deterioration-in-mangaung\/\">here<\/a> to support the demand for his resignation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AfriForum welcomes the Mangaung Metro Council\u2019s decision to appoint an independent investigator to probe allegations of financial mismanagement, maladministration, and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":117323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[11177,11162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-affairs-media-statements","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":11177,"label":"Community Affairs Media statements"},{"value":11162,"label":"Media statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bloem-dekfoto_ENG-1024x585.jpg",1024,585,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"AfriForum","author_link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/author\/ilze-nieuwoudtafriforum-co-za\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":11177,"name":"Community Affairs Media statements","slug":"community-affairs-media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11177,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":11162,"count":607,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11177,"category_count":607,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Community Affairs Media statements","category_nicename":"community-affairs-media-statements","category_parent":11162},{"term_id":11162,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11162,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2789,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11162,"category_count":2789,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117322"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117326,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117322\/revisions\/117326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}