A special council meeting commenced at the Stellenbosch Municipal Chambers at 08:00 on Friday 5 September, to discuss matters pertaining to a controversial video leaked on social media this week.
The urgent meeting follows executive mayor Jeremy Fasser’s preliminary investigation into allegations of constructive dismissal, bullying and racism against Alexander Kannemeyer, who is currently acting director of human resources in the municipality’s Corporate Services department. Fasser said his preliminary investigation found there are grounds to launch an internal investigation into the matter.
The video of an internal online meeting held in 2023 surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday 2 September. It features senior municipal officials, including Kannemeyer, discussing candidates for a vacant post. Kannemeyer, who was a senior HR manager at the time and part of the panel in an advisory capacity, comments that he is concerned that many director positions within the institution are held by white men, something he believes sets back transformation.
He further comments that in many cases white men seem to have the best scores when applying for positions, something with which he seemingly disagrees.
There has been an outcry from opposition parties, civil society organisations and the public, labelling the comments racist and discriminatory.
A memorandum released by trade union Solidarity’s CEO Dr Dirk Hermann on Wednesday 3 September accused Kannemeyer of having a history of bringing disciplinary action against municipal workers on “completely unfounded complaints”.
Hermann claimed that white senior managers – though it is unclear how many – resigned in December 2023 because the employer had “made the continued employment relationship intolerable”.
The video was apparently made by a Solidarity member who “found Kannemeyer’s remarks so offensive and derogatory that he blew the whistle,” Hermann claimed.The whistleblower, along with two white senior managers, apparently lodged a complaint against Kannemeyer’s conduct, but Solidarity says nothing came of its calls to investigate the matter.
Local opposition parties, civic organisations and members of the public have called for Kannemeyer to be dismissed from his current position.
The DA added to calls for Kannemeyer’s conduct to be investigated.
The special meeting’s agenda includes a notice of a motion by Councillor Patricia Crawley, chief whip of the DA caucus, for the “removal of Mr A. Kannemeyer as acting director: Corporate Services”.
