Government

Massive payday for Ramaphosa, ministers and other politicians in South Africa

Staff Writer

 ·28 Dec 2025

The Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-Bearers has published its recommended salary hikes for South Africa’s top government officials, pushing an above-inflation increase of 4.1%.

The commission is mandated to make annual recommendations relating to the salaries and/or the upper limits of the salaries, allowances, benefits, and the resources required by defined Public Office-Bearers (POBs), to enable them to perform their respective duties effectively.

Its recommendations cover the Presidency, ministers, deputy ministers, members of parliament, provincial and local government, as well as judges, magistrates and traditional leaders.

In determining the recommendation of a 4.1% increase, the commission flagged the steep decline in inflation experienced this year.

Initial projections were for the figure to average 4.5% at the beginning of the year, but this dropped to 3.5% by the end of the year.

It conducted a series of interviews and surveys among financial institutions and researchers.

It said it is of the view “that the realistic base range for inflation forecast for 2025/2026 should be between 3.5% and 4.5%.”

It also took into consideration the public service wage agreement, which saw public servants’ wages hiked by 5.5% from April 2025.

The commission acknowledged that the 4.1% recommendation was still high enough to add more to the financial pressures on the budget.

Covering approximately 20,587 incumbents under its purview, the R13.077 billion spent on salaries in 2024/2025 would balloon to R13.613 billion in 2025/26 with the increase, adding over R530 million to the tab.

Over the past decade, the wage bill has decreased as a share of consolidated spending, falling from
35.7 % in 2013/14 to 32.1 % in 2023/24.

By 2027/28, the wage bill is projected to decrease to 31.4% of consolidated spending; however, this still remains a massive budget item.

To further contain public service wage costs, the government is proposing to reactivate early retirement without penalties.

“The Minister of Finance mentioned that South Africa’s average spending on public-sector salaries is well above that of many countries,” it said.

“Cabinet has approved an early retirement programme to reduce government employment costs while retaining critical skills and promoting the entry of younger talent into the public service.”

The recommendation has not been received well by trade unions and political parties, who say the pay hikes are out of touch and come against a backdrop of government failures.

Recommended salaries for government workers

The tables below outline the recommended salaries for Ramaphosa and the other state officials.

National Executive

Members of Parliament

Provincial Executive

Local Government

Judges

Magistrates

Traditional Leaders