by Braam Pretorius – the greatest author you’ve never heard of.

Last week, I found myself in Cape Town again, visiting our office branch and attending a local event titled “Make Bellville Great Again.” A noble cause, I suppose. The venue was buzzing with early-morning ambition, the smell of bacon and filter coffee in the air, and just enough polyester blazers to remind you this was indeed corporate Cape Town.

At breakfast, I introduced myself as I always do these days: “Braam Pretorius. Greatest author you’ve never heard of.”

The oke across the table smiled and replied, “Steven Pretorius. From the English side of the Pretorius'es.”

Now boet, let me tell you, that triggered my inner Voortrekker. I looked at him straight and said: “So you stayed behind when we did the Groot Trek to the Transvaal?”

He chuckled politely and answered: “Yes, and yet, here you are back again in the Cape province.”

Touché, Steven. Touché.

We laughed. It was a warm moment, but I’ll admit, I left that breakfast a little worried. Not about the state of Bellville (though that’s a blog for another day), but about my newly discovered kaas-and-salty-kraker cousin. A Pretorius who eats his bacon with a knife and fork. Who orders tea with warm milk and talks about “investment ecosystems” before his second cup? Boet… that’s borderline exile.

Still, he seemed like a good guy. Maybe Bellville’s got a fighting chance after all, if we can just get the right Pretorius on the job. :-)