Hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag stem elke lid vertroulik.

It means either ... or ... or, in some contexts, whether ... or ....

In this sentence, hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag sets up two alternative ways the voting can happen:

• hetsy per stembrief = either by ballot
• hetsy per volmag = or by proxy

This is quite a formal expression, and you will often see it in official, legal, or constitutional language.

Afrikaans normally follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position of the sentence. Here, the sentence begins with the fronted phrase:

• Hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag

Because that whole phrase comes first, the verb stem must come next:

• Hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag stem elke lid vertroulik.

If you started with the subject, you would get the more basic order:

• Elke lid stem vertroulik, hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag.

So stem comes before elke lid because the sentence does not begin with the subject.

In this kind of formal Afrikaans, per means by, by means of, or via.

So:

• per stembrief = by ballot / by ballot paper
• per volmag = by proxy

This use of per is especially common in formal, administrative, and legal language. In everyday speech, people might choose a different phrasing depending on context.

Stembrief is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans.

It is made up of:

• stem = vote
• brief = letter / paper / document

Together, stembrief means something like ballot paper or voting paper.

Afrikaans often forms nouns by joining words together into one compound, much like Dutch and German do. So seeing stembrief as one word is completely normal.

Volmag means proxy or power of attorney/authorization, depending on the context.

In voting language, per volmag means by proxy: someone is authorized to act or vote on behalf of someone else.

So in this sentence, it refers to voting through an authorized representative rather than voting in person.

Yes, vertroulik is often an adjective meaning confidential or private, but in Afrikaans the same form is also often used adverbially.

So here vertroulik means something like:

• confidentially
• in a confidential manner
• privately

Afrikaans does not usually add a special -ly ending the way English does. Very often, the adjective form and the adverb form are the same.

Elke lid means each member or every member, while alle lede means all members.

The sentence chooses elke lid because it is focusing on members one by one:

• elke lid = each individual member

This is grammatically singular, which is why the verb is singular too:

• elke lid stem

If the sentence had used alle lede, it would shift the emphasis slightly from individual members to the group as a whole.

After per, Afrikaans often uses the noun without an article in fixed or formal expressions.

So these are natural:

• per stembrief
• per volmag

This is similar to set expressions in English like by mail, by hand, or by proxy, where you also often do not use a or the.

Yes, it is definitely formal.

The strongest clue is hetsy ... hetsy ..., which sounds official, legal, constitutional, or administrative rather than conversational. The use of per also adds to that formal tone.

A more everyday rewording might be possible depending on the exact situation, but this original sentence sounds like it belongs in rules, statutes, or meeting procedures.

Yes. A more straightforward version would be:

• Elke lid stem vertroulik, hetsy per stembrief hetsy per volmag.

This keeps the same meaning but starts with the subject, which may feel easier for learners.

The original sentence puts the voting method first for emphasis. That is common in formal writing when the writer wants to foreground the alternatives before mentioning the subject.

Here stem is a verb, meaning vote.

That can be confusing because stem can also be a noun in Afrikaans, depending on context. But in this sentence it is clearly the verb, because it comes in the normal verb position and connects with the subject elke lid.

So:

• elke lid stem = each member votes