From his schooling days he showed both anti-social behaviour and some signs of a neurotic disorder. He was nevertheless a brilliant student at King Edward VII Boys’ High School in Johannesburg. He went to study in Cambridge University in London where he obtained a B.A degree with honours and qualified as a chartered accountant.

He returned to the Rand, Johannesburg to assist his father in a farming and other business interests. Two of his children were born out of his first marriage in 1937, a boy who died at the age of seven and a girl who was 23 at the time of the attempted assassination. He married again in 1953 to a Dutch woman whom he met in South Africa. He built a 35-room home filled with treasures and antiques. His close friends and colleagues were puzzled by his unusual behaviour. At times he would go missing and stay with the homeless in Johannesburg, returning to shut himself inside his mansion for months. He was also reported to be charming.

On the morning of 9 April 1960,he took his 22 Pistol to the Rand Easter Show with no intention to use it. Apparently after hearing Hendrik Verwoerd’s lack of concern for public life he decided to use his gun to scare him. According to Pratt, he could have killed Verwoerd if he had wanted to do so. After having been examined, Pratt was reported to have been a sufferer of epilepsy for 40 years and from a mental disorder. On 26 September 1960 the Judge president sent Pratt to jail and await his fate. He was later transferred to Orange Hospital, Bloemfontein.

References

• Potgieter, D.J. (ed)(1970). Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: National Commercial Printers, pp 572-73.
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