It was one of the most important literary presences of the 1970s and 1980s, aiming to be popular rather than elite was consciously non-racial in the segregated apartheid era.

Borrowing its name and image from township slang for black youth who rode the over-crowded African sections of the racially segregated commuter trains by hanging onto the outside or sitting on the roofs, Staffrider had two main objectives: to provide publishing opportunities for community-based organizations and young writers, graphic artists and photographers; and to oppose officially sanctioned state and establishment culture.

Produced by The Durban Moment that saw Steve Biko begin the South African Students' Organisation, Staffrider had a view of literature with a small "l": its base was popular rather than elite and it sought to provide an autobiography of experience in its witness of daily black life in South Africa.

Debates around Staffrider′s "self-editing" editorial policy were ongoing and the magazine eventually adopted quality control measures under the editorship of Chris van Wyk.

However, the magazine's early flexibility ensured that the work of previously unpublished writers and artists appeared alongside that of many South African notables including Nadine Gordimer, Lionel Abrahams, Rose Zwi, Biddy Partridge, and Mtutuzeli Matshoba.