By The City Manager for Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM) Mr Sello More has reacted to AfriForum’s call for his immediate resignation. He says he noted their call for his removal from office and will soon convene a meeting with them to discuss a way forward.
AfriForum says it has written a letter to the City Manager on Wednesday, 22 April 2026, demanding his immediate resignation due to the ongoing financial mismanagement and the deterioration of infrastructure in the City.
The civil rights organisation says service delivery has reached a critical point; it says based on the information they received, the Metro has lost more than R1,6 billion over a period of five years attributed to water leaks; of which AfriForum says it is a direct result of poor management, poor maintenance and total administrative failure.
“While billions of rands are wasted, residents are left without reliable refuse collection services and a municipality that cannot even afford diesel for refuse collection trucks, landfill sites that are substandard and poorly managed, roads that are covered in dangerous potholes and parks that have been neglected for months,” said Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s Head for the central region.
Grobbelaar says despite the poor services and management, the Mangaung annual report for 2024/2025 repeatedly points to irregular, fruitless and wasted expenditure, confirming a culture of mismanagement and no accountability.
“Even more shocking is that the Municipal Manager, Mr. More, awarded himself a salary increase of approximately R700 000 per year in 2024 for so-called “outstanding performance”. This decision is a slap in the face to every taxpayer who must bear the consequences of this failure daily,” says Grobbelaar.
“AfriForum makes it clear: this situation is unacceptable; therefore, we formally demand the immediate resignation of Mr. More. His continued appointment is untenable and undermines any attempt to repair the municipality,” concluded Grobbelaar.
According to the Acting General Communications Manager Ms Nicolette Maysiels, the City Manager Sello More is willing to have a meeting with AfriForum and has confirmed that the meeting will take place soon and it is meant to provide a transparent platform to “ventilate” and thoroughly discuss the issues raised in their petition and collaboratively chart a constructive path forward for the Metro.
“The City Manager places on record that the Municipality has been on a steadfast recovery path following his appointment and the subsequent permanent appointment of Heads of Departments (HODs). These strategic leadership appointments are a cornerstone of the administration’s efforts to: • Stabilize municipal governance. • Strengthen institutional and administrative capacity. • Accelerate the implementation of the Metro’s mandatory Financial Recovery Plan and service delivery.
The progress achieved through these leadership and governance interventions will be among the key points of confirmation shared during the scheduled engagement with AfriForum,” said Maysiels.
