Hermann Pretorius
Hermann Pretorius studied law and opera before entering politics and, latterly, joining the IRR as an analyst. He is presently the IRR’s Head of Strategic Communications. He describes himself as a Protestant, landless, Anglophilic, Afrikaans classical liberal.
Articles By This Author
Race and redress: what the Constitution actually says
Rarely does public debate centre on the Founding Provisions of section 1 of the Constitution. This section has almost drifted into an ethereal category, treated
Why B-BBEE’s inherent elitism will always cause it to fail
“Broad-Based” Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) reduces being economically excluded to being black. Even if this unsupported and contentious position were true, B-BBEE would still be
Brigalia Bam is wrong: thirty years was more than enough
Dr Brigalia Bam, respected writer, activist, and member of the National Dialogue’s Eminent Persons Group, recently reflected that “(w)e never realised that 30 years will
Rot, rats, and the comforting lie that corruption is the problem
For most of the past decade, South Africa’s national debate has been trapped in a dangerously comforting myth: that state capture and corruption were the
An ignominious suicide: the ANC on death watch
Political parties that dominate a society for decades tend to assume their grip will last indefinitely. Yet history shows how quickly power can crumble. In
Could Trump’s America outbid Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran for a stake in the ANC?
The ANC is broke. Not cash-strapped, not merely struggling, but structurally bankrupt. Salaries go unpaid and unpaid debts pile up. Yet the party now faces
What the DA can learn from Ramaphosa
I was opposed to the formation of the GNU. In fact, in the post-election weeks of June 2024, I lobbied quite aggressively against the DA
Poverty, predators, and policy: the true horror of joblessness and vulnerability
The vulnerability of joblessness manifests in ways most of us can hardly imagine. In South Africa, unemployment is most often discussed through statistics and economic
Fatal grip: how ANC’s intransigent coalition logic is driving it to oblivion
From as early as the 1980s, the ANC has exhibited a reflex of treating any broad coalition or unity front as an extension of itself,
Substantive pro-growth transformation up for grabs as a piece of political real estate
The DA is right to oppose Black Economic Empowerment. The announcement earlier this week by Federal Leader John Steenhuisen that the GNU’s second party has