

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.
- Total Post (129)
Articles By This Author

Beware the traps of the “beneficiaries of Apartheid” narrative
- By Martin van Staden
- . Jun 20, 2024
The injustice known as Apartheid happened, and people did benefit from it. Care must however be taken when encountering this narrative in the discourse, because

Six reasons the GNU, if formed, will not last long
- By Martin van Staden
- . Jun 13, 2024
It is remarkable how silent the commentariat is about the longevity of the now much-vaunted pitch for a ‘government of national unity’ (GNU). The assumption

Get civically minded
- By Martin van Staden
- . Jun 6, 2024
We failed the test. Over 65% of voters voted incorrectly. That is now water under the bridge, and a vindication of those who have been

Reject the false dichotomy of ANC-DA or ANC-EFF
- By Martin van Staden
- . May 30, 2024
The election is over. Arguably the next most important phase is now under way: coalition negotiations. But the narrative that South Africa only has two

Beware! Yes, you can “vote wrong”
- By Martin van Staden
- . May 23, 2024
Every few years, South Africans write two important multiple-choice tests, one relating to local government and the other to provincial and central government. A prevalent

Race law in South Africa 30 years into ‘non-racial democracy’
- By Martin van Staden
- . May 16, 2024
The following is an edited address I delivered at the AfriForum conference, ‘A critical look at the South African government’s race obsession,’ in Centurion, on

The ‘rooi gevaar’: it’s not okay to be a socialist
- By Martin van Staden
- . May 9, 2024
Bell Pottinger is back. For at least a few months now, not one social media thread about the Democratic Alliance (DA) or another party in

Does the ‘free market’ lead to public sector corruption? Of course not
- By Martin van Staden
- . May 2, 2024
In 2020, Buddy Wells, a musician and MMT-enthusiast, wrote an article that, in broad terms, argues that South Africa’s pursuit of ‘neoliberal’ free-market reforms is

Political arrangements to consider, or avoid, after 29 May
- By Martin van Staden
- . Apr 25, 2024
A coalition between the African National Congress (ANC) and one or two Multi-Party Charter (MPC) parties after 29 May would be the kiss of death

‘It’s the law!’ – the motto of the 21st century’s useful idiot
- By Martin van Staden
- . Apr 18, 2024
Superficially, society seems to have taken the historical lesson offered by the Holocaust to heart: being ordered to engage in injustice – mass extermination, in