Tag: Martin van Staden

The results are in. The African National Congress has attained 40% of the vote, the Democratic Alliance (DA) 21%, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) 14%, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 9%. It is clear that some of these parties enjoy too much support in the context of a country that claims to be a constitutional state that prioritises the rule of law and which requires massive foreign and domestic private investment.

Read our exclusive cover story titled The price of populism? - the rule of law, economic freedom & social progress by Martin van Staden, Head of Policy, Free Market Foundation, plus a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics.

The Western (including South African) judiciary is a peculiar thing. To defy a judge is to commit an offence to society so great that most people do not even consider the merits of the defiance, and rush immediately to demand punishment. The recent controversy around Judge Mandlenkosi Motha is a case in point.

Martin van Staden | Head | Policy | Free Market Foundation | mail me | No matter what legal tradition you grew up with or which you...

Eskom cannot be trusted with load-limiting, as the same kind of centralisation is what caused the energy crisis in the first place. We will publish a research paper on privatisation later this year, that will set out how best to go about the privatisation of Eskom. This comes as the embattled state-owned enterprise seems to be fumbling from one bad idea to the next as it tries to stabilise power supply.

As more people choose vaping as an alternative to smoking, discussions surrounding its regulation and taxation have become hot-button issues worldwide, and South Africa is no exception. One prevalent topic is the idea of raising taxes on vaping products.

Written constitutions are meant to limit government scope and power. Bills of rights are meant to safeguard individual freedom from government overreach. This is as true in South Africa as it is anywhere else. Does the South African Constitution have a provision that allows government to ‘weasel’ its way out of strictly recognising and protecting our rights, or have we misconstrued section 36 entirely?

The African National Congress (ANC) is imploding. The productive energies of private enterprise have long been suppressed under the party’s hegemonic rule. Policy uncertainty, and simply bad policy, has kept South Africa back from fulfilling its full economic potential.

Read our exclusive cover story titled A hegemon crumbles! - will the ANC survive after decades of parasitic policies? by Martin van Staden, Deputy Head of Policy Research, South African Institute of Race Relations, plus a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the April/May 2023 edition.

No new business can prosper without access to start-up capital, and the regulatory environment must not stand in the way of this process. In other words, South Africa’s economic future is not served by do-gooder statutory restrictions on financing. As such, significant amendments should be made to the National Credit Act, as well as the Banks Act, to ease pressure on small businesses that seek to finance their growth.