South Africa has over 37,830 millionaires in government
Data from the Department of Public Service and Administration show that over 37,800 government employees are paid more than R1 million per annum.
Renowned economist Dawie Roodt stated that this type of remuneration puts a strain on the country’s fiscal position, especially when South Africa’s productivity does not match the paychecks.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana noted the first mention of this type of earnings in the 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).
He revealed that the number of government employees earning over R1 million per year has risen from 10,000 in 2013/14 to over 55,000 in 2023/24.
Following this, the Department of Public Service and Administration was asked to confirm these statistics in Parliament in late 2024.
The department noted that the number of government employees who earned such a salary was far less than that indicated in the MTBPS. However, it was still alarmingly high.
The department shared a table with this information, revealing that 37,839 government employees earn over R1 million annually.
There are 28,343 employees who earn an average of R1.08 million annually. A further 6,754 employees earn R1.23 million per year, and 1,994 earn R1.24 million.
On the high end, 631 government employees get R1.74 million annually, and 117 earn an average of R2.16 million.
The state’s salary bill for government employees earning over R1 million annually is R45.35 billion.
Renowned economist Dawie Roodt has raised serious concerns about the fact that more than 37,800 government employees earn over R1 million a year.
Roodt questioned whether the quality and output of South Africa’s civil service justify such high remuneration.
He argued that based on performance, a very large number of civil servants do not earn that.
He told BusinessTech that this concern is particularly stark in a country with extremely high unemployment, where “a million rand plus is quite a lot of money.”
In that context, Roodt said he believes civil servants are “in many instances just overpaid and underworked.”
Strain on the country’s fiscal position
He acknowledged that there are skilled and capable individuals in the public sector, adding that some may even deserve higher pay.
However, he said he is not convinced that 37,800 of them should get more than a million rand annually.
Beyond the million-rand earners, Roodt said the broader public-sector wage bill highlights deep structural problems in South Africa’s economy.
He pointed out that average salaries across the country are “much, much lower,” while unemployment remains exceptionally high, which makes public-sector pay stand out even more.
These factors, he said, all suggest that South African civil servants are highly overpaid, especially when compared to their day-to-day responsibilities.
He further cited data indicating that civil servant compensation amounts to around 17% of GDP.
“That’s the equivalent of their salaries,” he said, noting that by international standards, South Africa’s public servants are paid very generously, as a percentage of total state expenditure, and as a percentage of GDP.
Roodt warned that the political dynamics in South Africa make meaningful reform unlikely. He described the wage bill as a major problem, but one that is “unlikely to be fixed.”
The reason, he explained, is that Cosatu, which represents most civil servants, is part of the tripartite alliance.
As a result, “civil politicians simply won’t say that public servants are overpaid, because they represent a very important chunk of potential votes.”
This political reality, he said, leaves the country stuck with a system few leaders are willing to challenge.
Looking ahead, Roodt said he would like to see civil servant salary increases held well below inflation, ideally “well below 3% over the next number of years.”
However, he expressed little confidence that this would happen, pointing to recent wage demands such as Eskom workers asking for 15%, with Eskom already offering more than inflation.
He described this as the kind of trap in which South Africa finds itself. Ultimately, Roodt argued that the country must either reduce public-sector salaries or dramatically increase productivity.
He said he does not object to officials being highly paid, but stressed that “the quality of service just sucks in South Africa, from policing and education to healthcare.”
This, he said, shows that “their productivity simply doesn’t match their wages,” placing further strain on the country’s fiscal position.
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