Michael Avery

1 week ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

BADGER Last week my partner’s parents returned from a week in Eswatini, where a tyrant king can at least keep the lights on and the water flowing, to their home in a tree-lined, high-end suburb just five minutes from the JSE. What they found was not the comfort of home but a stinky reminder of just how far the rot of state failure has spread. No power from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon. No hot water, no refrigeration.

2 weeks ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

A bastardised spreadsheet formula that divides the US trade deficit with each country by its imports, adds some voodoo and spits out a number that now threatens to implode global trade. US President Donald Trump has declared economic war on the world, as promised, and our leaders are arguing over VAT decimal points. If there’s one good thing that might come from Tariff Man’s trade war timing, it’s that it could force some common sense into our politicians. ..

1 month ago | coastalview.com | Michael Avery

Welcome to tax season. Like so many Americans, you may find yourself grappling with piles of receipts, confusing forms and the ever-present worry of making costly mistakes. However, thanks to the rapid advancement of Tek, personal tax management has never been more efficient or accessible. From artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to user-friendly tax software, Tek is transforming how individuals approach tax preparation, filing and compliance.

1 month ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s grip on his party, and its alliance partners, appears as feeble as his handle on the economy. Watching ejected US ambassador Ebrahim Rasool’s return to SA, staged like a triumphant homecoming, must have been particularly galling given his orders to tone it down just days before. Red carpets, fists raised, revolutionary slogans recycled from a script that should’ve been shredded in 1994.

1 month ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

BADGER Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget has landed with all the grace of ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane trying to pick up the rand, a feeble and ineffectual attempt to course-correct an economy the ANC has spent the past two decades merrily gutting. The lying since, about the DA’s alleged demands and horse-trading, underlines how duplicitous the ANC is.     And yet the real debate is not about VAT.