The disgraced City Manager of Mangaung Municipality, Sello More, is embroiled in another scandal, this time involving a R6 billion loss for the municipality.
The funds were mismanaged during More’s tenure as city manager.
Reports indicate that the Free State Hawks are investigating the case.
Sources within the municipality have disclosed that the initial misuse of funds is connected to a long-standing jobs-for-pals scheme.
The Star exposed this scandal earlier this year, revealing how both More and Mayor Gregory Nthatisi engaged in irregular appointments, hiring friends and inflating staff numbers as favours for political allies.
The publication’s exposé led to an investigation into ghost workers and the jobs-for-pals network, which in turn triggered the Hawks to focus specifically on More. According to the source inside the municipality, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) is also closely scrutinising Lefa Trail, a company affiliated with More’s ally.
The source further stated that a gentleman named ‘Maema’ was rewarded with a solid waste tender for refuse removal.
This company Matrix24 is believed to be the people that nominated More for the post.
The Matrix24, a waste removal company, received a tender between 2019-2024, paying the company 400% more than other companies doing the work.
However, Lefa Maema, denied that he had any links with the company nor was he the owner of the company.
“I have no idea who owns Matrix and the contract with the metro municipality and anything related. Kindly talk to the municipality and the owner,” Maema concluded.
Meanwhile, when the publication contacted More for comment, he declined to speak and said we can write “whatever we want”.
“Write what you like Sipho, as you always do,” he said.
He is not new to controversy. In a judgment handed down on December 15, 2021, Judge AJ van Rhyn found that More’s appointment as the man in charge of the metro, was null and void since October 30, 2021, because the municipality failed to act in accordance with legal prescripts when appointing him.
More, despite the judgment, had remained the acting city manager and had entered into numerous contracts on behalf of the municipality.
Recently, it was discovered that his appointment as city manager might have been irregular as he and the head of department at the municipality did not receive concurrence from the then-Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Ketso Makume.
More’s appointment and that of other senior officials raised concerns for the MEC prompting him to request a meeting with Nthatisi to discuss the issues raised in relation to the appointment of the senior managers and the glaring ‘red flags’ in More’s appointment.
When contacted by The Star last week, Makume confirmed that the meeting between himself and Nthatisi was scheduled to deal with issues his department raised which among others was to request the documents and council resolutions that were not included in the report that he was going to consider for the concurrence.
When contacted for comment, Hawks Free State spokesperson Christopher Singo declined to provide details about the case.
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za