The Stellenbosch municipal official accused of discrimination and racism is believed to have a history of systematically targeting white colleagues in senior positions.
This according to trade union Solidarity. In a statement release on Wednesday 3 September, the union alleges Alexander Kannemeyer, at the time a senior human resources manager for the municipality’s Corporate Services, has a history of bringing disciplinary action against municipal workers on “completely unfounded complaints”.
In the memorandum, released by Solidarity CEO Dr Dirk Hermann, it claims white senior managers, it is not clear how many, resigned in December 2023 because the employer had “made the continued employment relationship intolerable”.
Eikestadnuus reached out Stellenbosch Municipality for comment on the accusations made against Kannemeyer and, by extension, the municipal manager, but municipal spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar, said the municipality will refrain from commenting on the matter until after a special council meeting, which is scheduled for Friday morning (5 September).
Cries for Kannemeyer’s dismissal and calls for an investigation into his behaviour came after a video of an online meeting was released online on Tuesday 2 September. It has since been confirmed that the meeting pertained to the appointment of a senior staff member in 2023.
During the meeting, which Kannemeyer attended in an advisory capacity, he makes alleged racist remarks about the appointment of white men in senior positions. The video was apparently made by a Solidarity member who “found Kannemeyer’s remarks so offensive and derogatory the he blew the whistle,” Hermann claims.
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, a senior HR manager, to be sacked from his current position as acting director for corporate service.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) added to calls for Kannemeyer’s conduct to be investigated.
It is not clear if Kannemeyer remains in his position until the emergency council meeting on Friday, but Eikestadnuus understands that he was included in official municipal correspondence after the video was released.
On Wednesday, executive mayor Jeremy Fasser announced the scheduled emergency council meeting to discuss the way forward. The agenda of the meeting was released on Thursday afternoon (4 September), and the controversial matter is noted as a notice of a motion by Councillor Patricia Crawley, chief whip of the DA, for the “removal of Mr A. Kannemeyer as acting director: Corporate Service”.
On its social media channels, the municipality confirmed the link to the online meeting will be shared with the public on Thursday.
Grobbelaar told Eikestadnuus that a comprehensive statement will be released by Fasser following the meeting.
