Here’s what South Africa’s top CEOs earn as executive pay climbs to new heights

 

South Africa’s top CEOs received median total remuneration of R23.2 million in the most recent financial year, a 9% increase on the previous year, with performance bonuses and long-term incentives driving much of the growth. That equates to around R1.93 million per month.

This is according to PwC’s newly released Directors Remuneration and Trends report, which analysed pay across the JSE’s 200 largest listed companies for the year to February 2026.

The report found that median long-term incentive outcomes for CEOs increased by 67%, while short-term incentives rose by 42%.

By comparison, median total guaranteed pay for CEOs increased by 6% to R8.814 million. CFOs also saw an increase in remuneration, with median total pay rising by 7% to R13.489 million.

For CFOs, long-term incentive outcomes increased by 54%, while short-term incentives rose by 39%. Their median total guaranteed pay increased by 1% to R5.580 million.

PwC attributed the higher remuneration outcomes to stronger company performance and favourable vesting of incentive awards.

“The real story is not simply that executive pay has increased, but what is driving it. The increase has come mainly through incentives, particularly long-term incentives, rather than guaranteed pay," Makhosazana Mabaso, PwC Reward Partner, said.

"For boards, the focus now is on making sure reward remains connected to performance and sustainable value creation, while balancing the expectations of executives, employees and shareholders,” Makhosazana Mabaso, PwC Reward Partner, said.

Shareholder support for remuneration improves

Despite the increase in executive remuneration, shareholder support for companies’ remuneration reports also improved during the period.

Support for remuneration implementation reports rose from 83.8% in 2025 to 89.6% in 2026, while the proportion of reports receiving more than 50% shareholder opposition fell from 5.4% to 0.6%.

No remuneration policy resolutions received more than 50% opposition in 2026, compared with 1.2% in 2025.

However, some remuneration decisions continue to attract scrutiny, including substantial sign-on awards without performance conditions and large long-term incentive grants without adequate justification.

About 9.6% of remuneration policy resolutions and 9.8% of implementation report resolutions received shareholder support of between 50% and 75%.

The findings come as remuneration-related amendments to the Companies Act took effect on 22 May 2026, strengthening requirements around pay transparency and shareholder accountability.

PwC Reward Partner Leila Ebrahimi said greater transparency should help companies make better-informed decisions about remuneration.

“Better pay data enables organisations to identify patterns, uncover potential gaps and make more informed remuneration decisions,” Ebrahimi said.

Women remain underrepresented in top jobs

The report also found that women remain underrepresented in senior executive positions at South Africa’s largest listed companies.

Women account for 10% of CEOs and 25% of CFOs across the JSE Top 200 companies analysed.

The median total guaranteed pay gap between male and female CEOs stood at 7% in 2026. For CFOs, median total guaranteed pay for men was 2% higher than for women.

Median fees for non-executive board members increased by 7.7%, while chairperson fees rose by 6.5% during the reporting period.

Median proposed annual fees stood at R1.754 million for chairpersons, R1.509 million for deputy chairpersons, R1.193 million for lead independent directors and R518,000 for board members.