The Hostage Whisperer: Inside SAPS' Elite Negotiation Unit with Dr Ernst Strydom

Profiler: True Crime Africa · Jun 18, 2025 · 1h 32m

This week, Profiler Africa goes behind the scenes of South Africa’s most high-stakes standoffs with Dr Ernst Strydom — SAPS’ former National Coordinator of Hostage Negotiations.

Host Paul Llewellyn and forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne dig into the psychology of crisis and negotiation, guided by the man who trained the nation’s negotiators and led SAPS through hijackings, bomb threats, and terrorist incidents.

🔍 In this episode:

What makes a hostage-taker tick — and how negotiators break the cycle

Inside SAPS responses to terrorism, kidnappings, and mass casualty events

The anatomy of…