Sy neem die voorsitter met die kamera af.

Because afneem is a separable verb in Afrikaans.

The full dictionary form is afneem, but in a normal main clause it splits:

• Sy neem ... af.

This is very common in both Afrikaans and Dutch-style verb systems. The finite verb (neem) goes into the usual verb position, and the separable part (af) moves to the end.

Compare:

• Ek neem die boek af.
• Hy sit die lig aan. → aansit = switch on
• Ons maak die deur oop. → oopmaak = open

So in your sentence, neem ... af belongs together as one verb idea.

Yes — afneem can have several meanings, depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• take off / remove
• decrease
• lose weight
• photograph / film / record

In this sentence, because of met die kamera, the intended meaning is the one connected to using a camera — essentially to photograph or to film someone.

So this is a good reminder that Afrikaans verbs, like English verbs, can be quite flexible in meaning depending on context.

Met die kamera means with the camera, and it tells you the instrument used to do the action.

Afrikaans often places this kind of phrase before the final part of a separable verb:

• Sy neem die voorsitter met die kamera af.

That is a normal structure:

• subject: Sy
• finite verb: neem
• object: die voorsitter
• prepositional phrase: met die kamera
• separable particle: af

So the sentence order is natural Afrikaans.

Grammatically, the most natural reading is using the camera.

So:

• Sy neem die voorsitter met die kamera af. most naturally means
• She photographs/films the chairperson with the camera.

If you wanted to make it clearer that the chairperson is the one who has the camera, Afrikaans would usually phrase that more explicitly, for example with something like:

• die voorsitter met die kamera in sy hand
• die voorsitter wat die kamera vashou

So in your sentence, met die kamera is normally understood as describing how she does it, not describing the chairperson.

Here, Sy means she.

Afrikaans sy can sometimes cause confusion because:

• sy can mean she
• sy can also mean his, depending on the sentence

Examples:

• Sy lees. = She is reading.
• sy boek = his book

In your sentence, Sy is at the start and functions as the subject, so it clearly means she.

Voorsitter means chairperson, chairman, or chair of a committee/meeting, depending on context.

It is built from:

• voor- = fore / front
• sitter = sitter, someone who sits

So literally it suggests the person sitting at the front or presiding.

In modern English, chairperson or chair is often the most neutral translation, but the exact English word depends on the context in which the meaning was given to the learner.

Because die is the normal definite article in Afrikaans, equivalent to English the.

So:

• die voorsitter = the chairperson
• die kamera = the camera

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender, and it does not have separate forms like the vs anything else. The same die is used very widely.

That makes Afrikaans articles simpler than English in some ways.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Afrikaans simple present often covers both:

• She takes
• She is taking

So:

• Sy neem die voorsitter met die kamera af.

can be understood as either a general present or an action happening now, depending on the situation.

If Afrikaans speakers want to emphasize an ongoing action, they can use another structure, but very often the simple present is enough.

Then it appears as one word: afneem.

For example:

• Sy wil die voorsitter met die kamera afneem. = She wants to photograph the chairperson with the camera.

Here afneem stays together because it is an infinitive.

So a useful pattern is:

• main clause: neem ... af
• infinitive / dictionary form: afneem

A very common past form in Afrikaans uses het plus the past participle.

With separable verbs, ge normally goes between the prefix and the verb stem:

• afneem → afgeneem

So the sentence becomes:

• Sy het die voorsitter met die kamera afgeneem.

That means She photographed / filmed the chairperson with the camera in the past.

This is a very useful pattern:

• aanhou → aangehou
• opstaan → opgestaan
• afneem → afgeneem

Yes, that is possible, but it changes the emphasis slightly.

• Sy neem die voorsitter met die kamera af.
• Sy neem met die kamera die voorsitter af.

Both are understandable. The first one is probably the more neutral, natural version in many contexts. The second puts a bit more focus on met die kamera.

Afrikaans word order allows some flexibility, but the most important thing is that the separable particle af stays in its expected end position in a main clause.

It is grammatically understandable, but depending on region and context, many speakers might more naturally choose a simpler verb such as one meaning photograph directly, if that is the intended meaning.

That said, from a learning point of view, this sentence is very useful because it teaches:

• the separable verb afneem
• main-clause word order
• the use of met for instrument
• the broad use of the article die

So even if another wording might sometimes be more idiomatic in casual speech, this sentence is still a good learning example.