Pay for the CEOs of South Africa’s 200 largest listed companies rose by 9% in the year to February, but almost all of the increase came from bonuses and share awards rather than salaries.
Median total remuneration for CEOs of JSE Top 200 companies climbed to R23.2-million, and chief financial officer pay rose 7% to R13.5-million, according to PwC’s annual Directors Remuneration and Trends report, which covers the 12 months to 28 February 2026.
Fixed pay barely moved. Median total guaranteed pay, which is salary plus the cash value of benefits, rose 6% to R8.8-million for CEOs and 1% to R5.6-million for CFOs.
Incentives did the heavy lifting. Annual bonuses jumped 42% to a median R9.2-million for CEOs and 39% to R5.4-million for CFOs. Long-term incentives, typically share awards earned over several years, rose 67% to a median R9.8-million for CEOs and 54% to R4.9-million for CFOs.
PwC put the increases down to stronger company performance and favourable vesting of incentive awards. It cautioned that the companies in its sample change each year, so the movements show trends rather than like-for-like increases.
The top end is well above the median: the average CEO package was R37.8-million, and a quarter of CEOs earned more than R44.9-million.
The report also describes the perks companies use when they cannot match market salaries. At senior levels, these include “personal and family security where the risk profile warrants it, such as armoured vehicles, residential security, and protection against digital and cyber threats”, PwC said.
It did not say how many companies offer digital protection to executives, or what it covers. The threat is growing as criminals use AI tools to impersonate people convincingly, including senior executives.
Shareholders largely waved the increases through. No remuneration policy and only 0.6% of implementation reports, which set out what was actually paid, were rejected by a majority of shareholders, down from 1.2% and 5.4% a year earlier. Proposed fees for non-executive directors won 99.4% support.
The next round of votes will carry more weight. Amendments to the Companies Act that took effect on 22 May give shareholders binding votes on pay policies and remuneration reports, and require expanded disclosure of the wage gap between executives and other workers.
PwC said only a few companies with February year-ends had faced the new rules before its cut-off, and that it was “too early to assess the full impact of the new regime on voting patterns”. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media
