Video: Stellenbosch Municipal HR manager calls for an end to hiring of white people

Alexander Kannemeyer, who has been the Human Resources manager for Stellenbosch Municipality since August 2018, was caught on video appearing to express the position that 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”.

He especially criticised the notion of employing qualified technical staff, insisting that nonwhites 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 – this appears to be an illegal premeditated pursuit of constructive dismissal as policy.

Kannemeyer’s background was initially in the trade unions sector under IMATU (Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union), and later as collective bargaining consultant for SALGA (South African Local Government Association), which would imply that he would be fully aware of the illegal nature of such hiring practices. If he managed to spend a decade in labour relations without learning the basic rights and laws surrounding his field, he would then be reasonably considered incompetent to hold his current position as HR manager