Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Dirk Kotze and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mangaung will be writing to the Speaker and the City Manager to demand that the Mangaung Disciplinary Board’s (MDB) first progress report be tabled at the next Council meeting, along with confirmation of which cases have been referred for investigation.
Residents deserve transparency and assurance that corruption and maladministration are being dealt with decisively and not swept under the carpet.
The DA is deeply concerned that, despite the establishment of the Metro’s Disciplinary Board more than a year ago, the council has still not received a single report from the board. Any failure to table these quarterly reports constitutes non-compliance with the MFMA and must be addressed without delay by implementing corrective actions to ensure future compliance.
The council officially appointed the MDB in September 2024, and its Terms of Reference were only approved in February 2025. Since then, no progress updates or findings have been presented to the council, despite several serious matters requiring urgent disciplinary attention.
In accordance with the Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings, issued under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), the MDB is required to submit a progress report to the municipal council at least once every quarter.
We want to remind the City Manager that it is his responsibility to refer all disciplinary cases to the Disciplinary Board for investigation.
These include:
- The Auditor-General’s report, tabled in January 2025, identified numerous incidents of financial misconduct and irregular expenditure that required disciplinary action.
- The 2023 Ransomware attack report, which outlined severe lapses in ICT governance and recommended disciplinary steps against officials responsible for the security breach, and
- The Hauweng IPTN Bus System report, which proposed disciplinary measures against several senior Mangaung officials for mismanagement and irregular procurement practices.
Ongoing investigations by the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), and independent forensic investigators into allegations of corruption, fraud, and irregular contracts have yet to result in visible accountability or internal disciplinary action.
This continued inaction raises serious concerns about whether the administration and the City Manager are committed to consequence management and good governance.
Mangaung has been trapped in a cycle of mismanagement, cover-ups, and lack of accountability. The time for excuses is over, and the residents of Mangaung deserve answers and action.