Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum seeks answers about Kannemeyer video from Stellenbosch Municipality

Soundbite: Marique van Dalen (English)

Soundbite: Marique van Dalen (Afrikaans)

The civil rights organisation AfriForum is wants answers from the Stellenbosch Local Municipality regarding the content of a video that was widely circulated on social media this week. In this video, the human resources manager of the Stellenbosch Municipality, Alexander Kannemeyer, allegedly said that the lives of white employees should be made “difficult” until they resign and they can then be replaced with the municipality’s preferred candidate.

AfriForum emphasises that service delivery to the community must not play second fiddle to politics and racially driven agendas. As a public institution, the Stellenbosch Municipality must prioritise service delivery, integrity and equality.

In a letter to the mayor, Jeremy Fasser, and the municipal manager, Geraldine Mettler, the organisation asks, among other things, whether Mettler was aware of Kannemeyer’s statements and discriminatory practices. According to AfriForum, Mettler is obliged in terms of section 55 of the Municipal Systems Act (32 of 2000) to ensure that municipal administration complies with the applicable legislation.

If Mettler was aware of these statements, AfriForum requests information about the steps taken to intervene and prevent further damage. If Mettler had known about this and had not acted appropriately, she would have neglected her duty and exposed her municipality to further legal action. AfriForum therefore wants to know whether this was reported, how it was responded to, and what measures will be put in place to prevent this type of behaviour in the future.

AfriForum has since learned that the municipality has undertaken to conduct an internal investigation. Although AfriForum welcomes this decision, there remains concern that this investigation will not be handled with the necessary seriousness. For this reason, AfriForum also requests that the municipality submit a report to the public after the investigation. This report should outline the steps that will be taken as they fall within the municipality’s constitutional and statutory obligations.

“In light of current events, there is sufficient reason to doubt that the municipality will handle the matter with the necessary seriousness,” says Marique van Dalen, AfriForum’s district coordinator for the Boland. “The statements were presumably made in 2023, but the question remains whether the municipality would have taken any action if the statements had not been leaked on social media.”

AfriForum will continue to monitor the situation closely and expects the municipality to handle it with the necessary seriousness and urgency. The municipality has five working days to respond to AfriForum’s letter.