A Stellenbosch official criticised hiring white males — what you need to know

The Stellenbosch Municipality council will this week hold a special meeting to institute an internal investigation into its human resources acting director, named as Alexander Kannemeyer, who, in a leaked video from 2023, questioned the hiring of white males over internal candidates in the municipality. 

Following the release of the video, there have been calls for Kannemeyer’s suspension from the Western Cape municipality, which is led by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The outcry stems from a viral video leaked to The Cape Independent, which, in its report, claimed that Kannemeyer believed “skills- and qualifications-based hiring was resulting in too many white people being hired, and that unqualified people should be hired instead, to push for ‘transformation’.”

According to the publication, Kannemeyer criticised the notion of “employing qualified technical staff, insisting that non-whites should be prioritised. In fact, he went further, and insisted that, where hiring a white candidate was legally unavoidable, they should ‘make their life difficult’ and force them to resign…”

In a media release a day after the video went viral, Stellenbosch Mayor Jeremy Fasser announced on Wednesday: “I have conducted a preliminary investigation into the allegation of constructive dismissal, bullying or any other infringement on workplace rights that surfaced on the recent circulation of a video recording made in 2023.”

Fasser said he believed there were sufficient grounds to institute an internal investigation. A special council meeting has been called for later this week to kick-start the process. 

“I will also be reviewing the recruitment and selection policy of the municipality to ensure that there are no loopholes to allow race-based bullying and constructive dismissal to occur,” he said. 

“Much has been said online and in the media regarding the video and its contents, and it is crucial to establish all the facts and reach a determination based on all available information,” said the mayor.

“As the leadership of Stellenbosch, we must establish the facts of this matter and … ensure the appropriate processes are followed.” 

What’s the reaction?

A statement by the union Solidarity called for Kannemeyer to be suspended. 

It said that the root of the issue was a hiring panel for a municipal manager position for water purification infrastructure services. Solidarity claimed three out of five members on the panel called for Kannemeyer’s suspension. 

If Kannemeyer is not suspended within seven days, Solidarity said it would consider further steps, “including action to hold the employer jointly liable for discrimination”.

Solidarity revealed, via a memorandum to Fasser, that it was a “coloured male panel member who found Kannemeyer’s remarks so offensive and derogatory that he blew the whistle”.

DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp said on Wednesday, 3 September, that the party, which has a majority in the council, would bring a motion to terminate Kannemeyer’s acting-directorship in the HR department. 

“This will effectively ‘demote’ him, while the matter undergoes investigation and commensurate disciplinary action,” said Aucamp.

“The DA caucus will also call for his suspension by the municipal manager, who has the power to do this.” 

“This matter is not about transformation, employment equity or empowerment – it is about a senior staff member publicly committing to bullying and harassing people in the workplace. No person in South Africa would support a policy that calls for bullying and harassment in the workplace,” Aucamp said.

The Freedom Front Plus on Wednesday demanded Kannemeyer’s suspension pending a thorough and transparent investigation, and called for a statement from the DA “reaffirming its stance on affirmative action and fair employment practices”.

The party also wanted “measures to ensure that municipal appointments are based on qualifications and merit, rather than racial or discriminatory grounds”. 

A statement by Gert van Niekerk, the party’s deputy chairperson for the Western Cape, said the party would “closely monitor this matter and will bring it to the attention of the South African Human Rights Commission, taking further steps as necessary.”

Step back – what did Kannemeyer say? 

In a 2:51-minute video leaked to Cape Independent, the first of two videos leaked from a municipal meeting, Kannemeyer appeared to express his support for appointing an internal candidate for the position in question. Without context, it’s somewhat hard to follow.

“But I have a big concern that every time when we appoint somebody and come back that we come to the highest scorer, and it’s every time a white male,” said Kannemeyer.

“I believe that we are never gonna get this organisation right with that type of attitude. We are not gonna transform and we are gonna struggle for years and years and years. I agree that we are far off and we need people now that can bring us. 

“But I don’t think we should just do it because people outside are complaining, what about our internal staff?” he said.

“I have a big concern within the Infrastructure Directorate, where I see things happening which is very concerning to me, where I made my sentiments known to you,” he said, pointing at someone in the meeting.

“I made it known to my director. I don’t support what is going on currently in sections of infrastructure directorate. I have a concern that we always have whites still in charge of our technical services and water services. I have a problem with that because the message we’re sending out, especially to internal staff, is that they don’t have the capability and competency. 

“So unfortunately, I cannot support, but I am not a panellist. I can only advise. But I will write that separate advice in a memo to [the municipal manager] so if she makes a decision contrary to what you guys decide, it might be that she takes my advice.” 

Kannemeyer then said, “I cannot support the fact that we every time appoint the best-scoring candidate and it’s always the white male. So we’re not gonna go for gender-based anymore, we’re not gonna go…”

He then suggested internal candidates were being overlooked while the municipality employed white males, before adding: “So we work in a fashion where we make the life difficult for the person that came in, and I am not saying it happened, I’m saying we make the life difficult for the person that came in, the person resigns and afterwards we get what we want. And I already told you, I have a concern with certain things happening in that section.”

The rest of the video records Kannemyer and another person talking about a third person.

In a second video, released on Wednesday, Kannemeyer said: “I’m still saying, appointing a white person to correct that, because I am going to be honest with you, a white person is part of the problem. I’m opening it up: a white person is part of the problem.” 

The short videos don’t show the conversation before or after Kannemeyer’s comments. 

The municipality has, however, said, “The recording in question captures a deliberately edited short snippet from a broader employment equity discussion within the directorate in March 2023. Taken out of context, it is now being misrepresented to support a completely false narrative… At no stage was the municipality approached for comment or provided [with] questions on the matter.”

The municipality said this took place at a confidential, internal meeting. 

“For further clarity, the HR manager was speaking in the context of how a previous candidate in the position may have had their work life made more difficult than necessary. This in no way implied that any candidate, of any race or background, should be subjected to such treatment.

“Once again, this proves that the conversation has been taken entirely out of context and the municipality cannot stand for such distortion. It should also be noted that this matter was subject to a full internal investigation as well as proceedings at the CCMA. No findings were made,” read the municipal response to The Cape Independent.

Kannemeyer had not responded to Daily Maverick’s request for comment at the time of writing.

What do the stats say on Stellenbosch management representation?

A look at the municipality’s 2023/2024 annual report reveals it has six directors: four classified as “coloured” and two classified as “white”, with no recorded “African” directors. 

Within senior management, 15 managers were classified as “coloured”, seven managers were classified as “white” and only three were classified as “African”. 

When it came to gender, two women and four men were directors. Among senior managers, there were four women and 21 men. 

There were no directors or senior managers with disabilities.

A note in the annual report reads: “It should be noted that a consultant is currently in the process of doing an in-depth rating of BBEE compliance in terms of supply chain and socioeconomic activities.”

Who’s defending Kannemeyer? 

The African National Congress (ANC), the second-biggest party in the Stellenbosch council, said it condemned with “clarity and conviction any attempt to misrepresent acting director Kannemeyer’s comments and what appears to be a racial smear campaign against him and the unfair conduct of distortion from the essential matter of transformation”. 

In the statement, ANC caucus chief whip Ayanda Tomose said: “Context is key, acting director Kannemeyer’s intervention reflects deep concern over the persistence of apartheid-era appointment patterns at Stellenbosch Municipality – where white males dominate… even … when there are highly qualified internal staff.” 

“This is not an attack on merit, but a call to interrogate whether our selection criteria unintentionally reproduce privilege and undermine redress.” 

The party also raised concerns about the video being shared from a confidential meeting, which the party alleged breached the Municipal Systems Act’s Code of Conduct for municipal staff. Specifically, Schedule 2, item 6, which states: “A staff member of a municipality may not, without permission, disclose any privileged or confidential information obtained as a staff member of the municipality to an unauthorised person.”

The ANC said that by disseminating such material, “The individual has flagrantly contravened a statutory duty to maintain confidentiality. This is not only a serious disciplinary matter – it is a breach of the law, punishable under the disciplinary procedures outlined in Schedule 2, item 14A, which may include dismissal or other sanctions.”

The party distanced itself from what it termed “such unethical conduct. Leaking or weaponising confidential content to score political points undermines trust in democratic processes and violates both legislative and organisational norms.”

The ANC said, “Our caucus remains steadfast in standing with the acting director, Mr Kannemeyer’s right to voice principled concern for transformation. His critique shines a necessary light on entrenched patterns. With that said, defending transformation does not excuse breaches of confidentiality or proper process.”

What next? 

A council meeting will take place on Friday to discuss the issue. The Good party, which has seats in the council, said it would write to Western Cape MEC for Local Government Anton Bredell, to “request that this matter be urgently escalated for provincial oversight. Racial engineering, whether in favour of or against any group, cannot be tolerated in any sphere of government.”

Good councillor Robin Hendrikse said: “While we understand the frustration of the public and, it seems, the HR manager, Mr Kannemeyer, over the slow pace of transformation, we cannot and will not support tactics that amount to racial purging or the manipulation of hiring processes to fit predetermined racial outcomes.

“Transformation must be pursued legally, transparently and ethically, not through backdoor purges, nor by making any employee’s life ‘difficult’ until they leave, as the HR manager is heard saying.” 

The party has called for several actions, including for the municipality to explain “what steps are being taken to ensure fair, transparent and non-discriminatory hiring practices across all departments; accelerate the training of internal staff as part of … succession planning in a way that strengthens transformation without undermining competence and morale”. DM