The development of long-range ferromagnetic (FM) order in dilute magnetic topological insulators can induce dissipationless electronic surface transport via the quantum anomalous Hall effect. We measure the magnetic excitations in a prototypical magnetic topological crystalline insulator, Sn0.95Mn0.05Te, using inelastic neutron scattering. Neutron diffraction and magnetization data indicate that our Sn0.95Mn0.05Te sample has no FM long-range order above a temperature of 2 K. However, we observe slow, collective FM fluctuations (<70μeV), indicating proximity to FM order. We also find a series of sharp peaks originating from local excitations of antiferromagnetically (AF) coupled and isolated Mn-Mn dimers with JAF=460μeV. The simultaneous presence of collective and localized components in the magnetic spectra highlight different roles for substituted Mn ions, with competition between FM order and the formation of AF-coupled Mn-Mn dimers.