Martin van Staden
South Africa
SFL SUCCESS STORY:
Martin van Staden
SFL Africa
Working towards a freer South Africa
Martin is a member of the African Executive Board, from the South African Region. He just completed his Bachelor of Law from the University of Pretoria, South Africa and is currently working at the Free Market Foundation South Africa. He has previously been writing articles that have been published on the organizations website.
Martin recently produced a well-written paper on the Hate Speech Bill which was a contentious issue for debate in South Africa. The paper was submitted to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and the Hate Speech Bill.
The proposed Bill intends to regulate these expressions, in line with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. The Department of Justice further claims that the Bill was inspired by anti-hate speech laws in Kenya, Australia, and Canada. The proposed crime of hate speech carries a sentence of up to three years in prison for a first offence, and up to ten years for a subsequent offence. The FMF identified several problems with the Bill and proposed amendments to rectify them.
Martin continues to be one of the top young writers for Liberty in Africa, contributing to policy submissions in Africa.
When asked about what Students For Liberty means to him, Martin said:
“When I joined Students For Liberty it was the only libertarian association in Africa that seemed to care about the youth. It provided me with much-needed reinforcement and support during a time when I felt like I was the only one of my kind here. My involvement with Students For Liberty led directly to my being employed by the Free Market Foundation in South Africa, where I have been for more than a year now; an opportunity I would have missed out on if SFL didn’t stimulate my activism. Students For Liberty is also one of the very few significant libertarian organizations that cares about what is happening outside the borders of the United States — it is a truly global movement. This inspires me, especially now during a time when it seems many libertarians are becoming inward-looking to their own societies, and thereby naively thinking that liberty somewhere is viable in the long run without liberty everywhere.”
We’re honored by Martin’s words and can’t wait to hear more from him!
View Other SFL Success Stories