Managing Director: KIMS International
Previous Experience
Herman completed a diploma in Police Administration and studied law at university, graduating with a B. Proc and BA LLB. He is authorized to practice as an advocate in the High Court of South Africa.
He was the Provincial Commander of the South African Police Service’s Hostage Negotiation Team, as a Lt-Col for 20 years and a serving member for 29 years. Before joining the hostage negotiation team, he was the acting head of the police’s Crime Reaction Unit in Maitland, where he attended high-risk shooting incidents and media liaison. Before that, he was the Crime Prevention Commander at Sea Point Police Station. He was part of the planning team and the command structure for various major events, such as the 2010 Soccer World Cup in the Western Cape.
During his 20 years at the South African Police Hostage Release Team, he dealt with numerous hostage- and suicide-related incidents in the Western Cape and abroad. He was also tasked with selecting and training persons for hostage-related incident management (theory and practical) as well as logistical and financial management.
He developed Law Enforcement and Hostage negotiation equipment with engineers from Stellenbosch. This equipment is now used throughout South Africa and Namibia.
He provided training in various countries and to various key functionaries such as Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, France, Latvia and more. 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 teenage Dutch boy seized in Cape Town and the extortion of R5 million. Another incident was the successful management of the kidnapping of two minors who were detained 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 attended a training program at Louisiana State University Socorro, New Mexico, USA as part of the US Department of State Antiterrorism Assistance Program.
Herman’s experience is widely recognized.
In 2005 he was invited to do a Kidnapping Management presentation at The International Negotiators Working Group in Vancouver, Canada. In 2009 he hosted the French GIGN in the Western Cape and presented a workshop on the management of mass hostage incidents.
Current Area of Expertise
Herman joined TSU International on 2015-04-15 and established the Kidnapping and Extortion Division for the Company. He was the Kidnapping & Extortion and Crisis Incident Manager for TSU International until 2024-05-01 when he became the Managing Director of KIMS International.
In 2016 he was a Keynote Speaker at The Close Protection Technology Forum in London on the invitation of CTG Intelligence, London and attended the 7th Annual Tackling Kidnapping, Hijacking and Hostage Taking Conference in London during that time.
Since 2015 he provided training and information sessions on behalf of TSU International, for companies in many African Countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania etc. and Britain with VC broadcasting to other destinations (New Jersey, New York, Isle of Man, Mauritius, and South Africa). During 2022 and 2023 he was inter alia a speaker at AfATAP, OSAC and many other business forums.
Many incidents were successfully investigated and managed since 2015 such as the Kemper murder in Durbanville, Western Cape in 2017.
Herman and his Team presented various Kidnapping Awareness, Prevention and Management, training, and information sessions across Africa. Various of these sessions were done in collaboration with Debbie Calitz (20 Months in Hostage Hell – Somalia), Yolandé Korkie (558 Days – Yemen) and Gerco van Deventer (2234 Days – Libya/Mali).
Establishing and implementing kidnapping incident management procedures and protocols, across Africa, for corporate clients, is regarded as one of the most important responsibilities at a time when there is a rise in organized and professional kidnapping syndicate incidents.
His Team is regularly involved in assisting with various Kidnapping and Extortion Incidents but with a key focus on prevention and mitigation.
Herman prides himself on being honest and forthcoming with his clients.