Martin van Staden
http://www.martinvanstaden.com
Martin van Staden is the Head of Policy at the Free Market Foundation and former Deputy Head of Policy Research at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR). Martin also serves as the Editor of the IRR’s History Project and its Race Law Project, and is an advisor to the Free Speech Union SA. He is pursuing a doctorate in law at the University of Pretoria. For more information visit www.martinvanstaden.com.
Articles By This Author
Questioning Hoffman’s broadside against SA’s federal Constitution
South Africa is, formally, a federal state, which like many of Africa’s federations lacks federalist substance. Federalism – crucial for limited and accountable government –
EH Brookes’s underrated liberalism: Quotes from “Power, Law, Right, and Love”
Edgar Harry Brookes (1897-1979) was one of the great classical liberals of the previous century. He co-founded the Institute of Race Relations in 1929 and
A reluctant defence of AmaPanyaza after the latest own-goal by DA, FF+
What’s worse? The uncomfortable association created by centraliser-in-chief Panyaza Lesufi coming within inches of pulling off a great feat of decentralisation, or the fact that
Reflections on a trip to Israel
I was privileged recently to have been able to spend a week with a group of South African journalists and thought leaders in Israel. While
Getting real about land reform and confiscation
Last week a case-study of mine on expropriation without compensation in South Africa appeared in the 2025 International Property Rights Index. This column is a
The tobacco industry has a right to advocate on its own behalf
The tobacco industry has every right to advocate for itself. Yet in South Africa and around the world, it is increasingly being muzzled, while foreign
Treat stateproofing as an asset, not a risk
A recent article in The Conversation highlights a growing trend in South Africa: ordinary people, from the impoverished shacks of Imizamo Yethu to the affluent
The insidiousness of universal digital identification
Few tools have been as seductive as the promise of a universal identification system that the state can at will rely upon to enforce its
Doomsday coalition’s EWC in action: where is the GNU firewall?
When the business group Sakeliga revealed the details surrounding the ongoing Driefontein expropriation without compensation in Ekurhuleni on 20 September 2025, the only real question
Political violence the inevitable consequence of over-politicisation
The assassination of American conservative pundit Charlie Kirk last week hit me harder than I imagined something like this would. In the time since that