Come the new year, the Stellenbosch Municipality may have a new mayor, but the municipal manager will likely be the same.

Despite her contract as municipal manager ending on 31 December, Geraldine Mettler will likely remain in her seat come 2027.

At its most recent meeting on Tuesday 25 August, the municpal council voted to extend Mettler’s contract by three months, due in part to the Local Government Election set for Wednesday 4 November.

Council also voted to start the process to appoint a new municipal manager, which includes advertising the post, appointing a selection panel and appointing an independent external consultant to assist with the recruitment and selection process.

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Controversy surrounds

The selection panel will comprise the mayor, deputy mayor, the municipal manager of the Cape Winelands District Municipality or the chairperson of the Municipal Managers’ Forum in the province, and the chairperson of the Audit and Performance Audit Committee of Stellenbosch Municipality.

Mettler was appointed to the post in February 2017 and has since served alongside former mayor Gesie van Deventer and now her successor, Jeremy Fasser. Before her time in the City of Oaks, she was employed at the City of Cape Town as director of Councillor Support and Subcouncils.

The sometimes controversial Mettler has come under fire from locals due to various decisions by the municipality.

Among them is the Botmaskop Fynbos Estate, for which she was interviewed on the popular current affairs programme Carte Blanche. It was also this development that convinced the CapeXit party to open a criminal case against Mettler last year.

The party, which does not have a presence on the local council, alleged that Mettler failed in her duty to stop additional environmental damage to the area.

Contingency plan

She was also critised after a senior official at the municipality, who directly reports to her, faced public scrutiny and an internal investigation following a leaked video last September (“Herrie oor ‘rassistiese’ video,” 4 September 2025).

Along with the appointment process, council’s decision includes extending Mettler’s term by three months in the event that a suitable candidate is not found by the end of the year.

A formal application will now be made to Anton Bredell, provincial minister for Local Government, for a further extension, should the process not be finalised.

Speaker Quinton Smith described the possible extension of Mettler’s contract as a necessity as the election results are expected around the second week of November and December is a short administrative month, so it was best to have a contingency plan.

The decision was adopted with 23 votes in favour and 10 abstentions.

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