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
Why Zille’s Johannesburg stunts are more serious than they look
An election campaign is often described in the grand language of strategy, messaging, and ground operations. But in reality, this vocabulary, for all its value as a tool of practice and analysis, can actually be boiled down to two simpler and more unforgiving essentials: being able to win attention, and making promises people believe.
Till they’re blue in the face: the DA’s underperformance problem
The Social Research Foundation (SRF) recently published, in The Common Sense, a national opinion poll placing the DA on 28% national support, the poll having a 2-point margin of error. Internal DA numbers paint a similar picture of the party in the high 20s.
Poll position: How the DA managed to beat the ANC — but is at risk of losing it all again
A year ago, in April and May 2025, South Africa experienced one of the rarest moments in its democratic politics: a clean, head-on contest between the ANC and the DA over a single, concrete issue that touched every household. That issue was the cost of living.
Loud commentary, quiet voters: the DA that Steenhuisen leaves behind
One of the most persistent analytical mistakes in South African politics is the failure to distinguish between noise and public opinion. The two are repeatedly
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