Martin van Staden
https://www.martinvanstaden.com
Dr Martin van Staden is the Head of Policy at the Free Market Foundation and Editor of the Race Law Project at the South African Institute of Race Relations. He earned a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of Pretoria and is widely published and featured on popular and academic platforms. Van Staden additionally serves as a director of both the Hayek Council for a Free World and the Free Speech Union SA, and as a fellow at both the Consumer Choice Center and Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity. Visit www.martinvanstaden.com for more.
Articles By This Author
Why race law cannot be justified by mere intention – particularly in South Africa
In all my years of working in public advocacy, my most well-known and (thus far) consequential initiative has been spearheading the Institute of Race Relations’
Simple solutions to violent crime that the political elite has no interest in
After long and unjustified delays, the South African crime statistics for quarters 1 and 2 of financial year 2025/26 were finally published last week. Across
G20 “Declaration”, EWC, race law: gaslighting is the SA government’s modus operandi
Just like “nil” is supposedly a form of “compensation”, and “race conscious” laws are apparently not “racial”, we were told that the Group of 20
Bureaucrats and busybodies: COP11’s “experts” SA can do without
This week the richest country on Earth is hosting the biennial banquet-ball of bankers, bureaucrats, and busybodies. The Eleventh Session of the Conference of the
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