Prof Matthew Lester

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Prof Matthew Lester

Mr Tax Talk

Apart from teaching at Rhodes university, Grahamstown, Professor Matthew Lester lectures to a wide range of South Africans on taxation and money matters. He writes Tax Talk in the Sunday Times. His well received public speeches are entertaining, making even complicated and dry issues understandable and comprehensible.

Matthew Lester grew up and studied in the old South Africa and witnessed, first hand, the dismantling of apartheid from the riots of 1976 to the elections in 1994.'Those were frightening years' he says.

Post 1994 Matthew has travelled South Africa, talking to people about their money, their taxes and how the economics of the recovery of the new South Africa has been progressing. 'South Africa is a land of extremes,' he says,' just how do you support 15 million people with only 5 million taxpayers. But we do it and our economy is better off than most in these hard times.'

He enrolled in the Faculty of Commerce at Rhodes University in February 1980. This was a means to go fishing at Kenton-on-Sea and keep out of the clutches of a prospective employer, the South African Defence Force. However, he found that the study of commerce and general life at Rhodes University was preferable to fishing, so he graduated from Rhodes with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1982 and a Certificate in Theory of Accounting (CTA) in 1983. Reluctantly he left Grahamstown at the end of 1983 to complete his CA Qualification in Johannesburg.

Matthew served out his articles with Deloitte and Touche, Johannesburg. He passed his Board exam on the first attempt. Thereafter, the SA Defence Force finally caught up with him – so he joined the Receiver of Revenue (SARS) in lieu of National Service. As Matthew is passionate about Income Tax this arrangement was extremely beneficial to all concerned. Not only did he rise to the rank of Assistant Director at SARS, Johannesburg, but he also completed a Higher Diploma in Taxation Law at the University of the Witwatersrand while working for SARS.

In 1990 Matthew turned from Game Keeper to Poacher and joined BDO Spencer Steward Johannesburg where he was appointed head of taxation advisory services. He held this position from 1990 to 1998 and built up a reputation as one of the leading tax experts.

Matthew never forgot the good times at Rhodes University and in 1998 he returned to Rhodes University as Professor of Taxation studies. He has not lost touch with his business dealings in Johannesburg. He returns nearly every week where he still remains head of tax and corporate finance consultancy operations of the BDO Spencer Steward national firm.

The yuppies would say that Matthew is an “adrenalin junkie” who gets his kicks from consulting on corporate finance and taxation all over South Africa. Matthew acknowledges this but in his words “giving a good lecture gives a better kick than any substance made in a pharmaceutical laboratory”.

The long walk to freedom. Part 2. From Victor Verster to the FIFA world cup

… this is a look at South Africa 20 years after the release of Nelson Mandela and how far we have come and how far we still have to go.It concentrates on the economy and the challenges that must be faced to keep South Africa going.

Speakers Delivery Style

…This is ‘edutainment.’ A lecture with a difference. We look at ourselves and laugh or even cry at the amazing contrasts that make up the rainbow nation.

Why should the audience listen to this speech

…great visual content.Learn things you just don’t know abou the new RSAAnd above all, have some fun while learning

What will the speech address

The presentation shows south Africans a lot more about the country they live in. How its finances work.. And how it sort of hangs together.

What will the participants learn

The presentation puts a lot of the negatives about South Africa in contect>And show we are better off than we think.

What will the participants take away

MA sense of hope and confidence in the future,

Benefits for the individual

The south African of today is subjected to a barrage of negative talk. This presentation puts it all in context and leaves the individual with a sense of hope.

Benefits for the organisation

Perhaps delegates will get a greater appreciation of the financial challenges facing the new RSA. And that South Africa is better off than one would think.

Topics

The long road to freedom. Part 2. From Victor Verster to the FIFA world cup
South African Economy
Income Tax
Investment in South Africa

Speaks

English

Publications

coming soon

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