from Stellenbosch, which are now used throughout South Africa and Namibia. Among his duties in the 22 years he spent in the unit he was managing hundreds of hostage- and suicide related incidents in the Western Cape and abroad, selecting and training people for hostage-related incident management (theory and practical) as well as logistical and financial management. He provided training to various countries including Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, France, Latvia etc. He was also a permanent member of all the National Key Point, Joint Planning Committee Structures in the Western Cape.Some of the more challenging incidents he was involved in were the arrest of those responsible for kidnapping a Dutch teenage boy who was seized in Cape Town and family extorted for R5 million, and the successful management of a kidnapping of two minors and detaining them on a catamaran off the Virgin Islands. The children were located safely and no ransom was paid in either of the incidents. In 2000 he went to Louisiana State University Socorro, New Mexico, USA for training as part of the US Department of State Antiterrorism Assistance Program and was also responsible for hosting a working session in 2009 in the Strand, Western Cape, RSA with the French GIGN in the management of mass hostage incidents. Herman’s experience is widely recognised. In 2005 he was invited to do a Kidnapping Management presentation at The International Negotiators Working Group in Vancouver, Canada. He was also part of the planning of various major events, such as the 2010 Soccer World Cup where he was part of the police’s planning and command structure in the Western Cape. Before joining the hostage negotiation team, Herman’s 29 years police experience includes acting head of the police’s Crime Reaction Unit in Maitland, where attending high-risk shooting incidents and media liaison were part of his duties. Prior to that he was crime prevention head at Sea Point police station. Herman studied law at university, graduating with a B. Proc and BA LLB. He is authorised to practice as an advocate in the High Court of South Africa.