{"id":874787,"date":"2026-09-10T17:09:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=874787"},"modified":"2026-09-10T17:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:09:49","slug":"woman-who-rose-from-a-township-to-make-history-and-earned-r175000-a-day-from-firstrand-for-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/874787\/woman-who-rose-from-a-township-to-make-history-and-earned-r175000-a-day-from-firstrand-for-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman who rose from a township to make history, and earned R175,000 a day from FirstRand for three years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mary Vilakazi rose from Alexandra township and made history by becoming the first woman CEO of one of South Africa\u2019s most valuable banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank\u2019s annual reports showed that her total awarded remuneration over her first three financial years at the helm amounted to about R192.1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the updated restated face-value long-term incentive (LTI) methodology used by FirstRand, the amount works out to more than R175,000 a day over the three-year period covering the 2024, 2025 and 2026 financial years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilakazi became FirstRand\u2019s group CEO on 1 April 2024, succeeding Alan Pullinger, who stepped down at the end of March that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her appointment was a significant milestone for the financial services group, making her its first female CEO and its second black leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FirstRand is listed on both the Johannesburg and Namibian stock exchanges and is the largest financial institution in Africa by market capitalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through brands including FNB, RMB and WesBank, the group operates across South Africa, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the UK and India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing a succession planning process, Vilakazi was appointed as CEO to replace AP Pullinger, who stepped down as CEO,\u201d the reports said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group confirmed that Mary Vilakazi was appointed group CEO on 1 April 2024, having previously held the role of group COO and an Executive Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilakazi\u2019s career is particularly notable given her beginnings in Alexandra, one of the biggest townships in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She attended St Enda\u2019s Secondary School in Braamfontein before studying at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), where she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1999 and an Honours degree in Accounting in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported by scholarships from the Rotary Fund and the Gifted Child Programme, she excelled academically before qualifying as a chartered accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her early career included a senior role at PwC, where she became a partner in 2005 at just 27, making her one of the youngest partners in the firm\u2019s global network at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rise to the top <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She later served as chief financial officer of Mineral Services Group from 2008 to 2011 before taking on various non-executive positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, she joined MMI Holdings, where she became group finance director and later deputy CEO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She moved to FirstRand in 2018 as group chief operating officer, helping to oversee the group\u2019s expansion into insurance and investment management, as well as its growth in other African markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her remuneration grew as she moved into the top job. In 2024, her guaranteed package was R9.402 million, which reflected nine months as COO and three months as CEO. She also received R14.55 million in short-term incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, her guaranteed package increased to R11.204 million, while her short-term incentive rose to R23 million as the group reported strong operational performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her total reward reached R78.204 million, boosted by a once-off R18 million special LTI award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reports explained that a once-off award of R18 million was granted to Mary in 2025, to be settled in three equal tranches of R6 million into a restricted trading account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, her guaranteed package increased to R11.939 million, while her short-term incentive reached R24 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her regular LTI allocation also rose to R30 million, taking total reward to R65.939 million as the once-off award fell away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilakazi has also highlighted the group\u2019s strong operational performance during her tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are extremely pleasing outcomes despite a challenging year. The strong operational momentum in FNB, RMB and WesBank sets the bank up for another strong performance in the coming year,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below presents the full breakdown of Mary Vilakazi’s remuneration across her tenure, formatted in R thousands (R ‘000)<\/strong>, concluding with a combined total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remuneration Component (R ‘000)<\/th>FY 2024 (As Reported)<\/th>FY 2024 (Restated Basis)<\/th>FY 2025<\/th>FY 2026<\/th>Combined Total <\/strong><\/th><\/tr>
Cash package paid<\/strong><\/td>R8,973<\/td>R8,973<\/td>R10,703<\/td>R11,323<\/td>R30,999<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Retirement contributions<\/strong><\/td>R187<\/td>R187<\/td>R231<\/td>R248<\/td>R666<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Other allowances<\/strong><\/td>R242<\/td>R242<\/td>R270<\/td>R368<\/td>R880<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Total Guaranteed Package<\/strong><\/td>R9,402<\/strong><\/td>R9,402<\/strong><\/td>R11,204<\/strong><\/td>R11,939<\/strong><\/td>R32,545<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Performance STI: Cash<\/td>R8,275<\/td>R8,275<\/td>R12,500<\/td>R13,000<\/td>R33,775<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Performance STI: Deferred \/ Restricted Shares<\/td>R6,275<\/td>R6,275<\/td>R10,500<\/td>R11,000<\/td>R27,775<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Total Variable Pay<\/strong><\/td>R14,550<\/strong><\/td>R14,550<\/strong><\/td>R23,000<\/strong><\/td>R24,000<\/strong><\/td>R61,550<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Total Guaranteed & Variable Pay<\/strong><\/td>R23,952<\/strong><\/td>R23,952<\/strong><\/td>R34,204<\/strong><\/td>R35,939<\/strong><\/td>R94,095<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Regular LTI (CIP Face Value \/ Allocated)<\/td>R16,600<\/td>R24,000<\/td>R26,000<\/td>R30,000<\/td>R80,000<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Once-off Special LTI Award<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>R18,000<\/td>\u2014<\/td>R18,000<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Total Reward (Including LTIs)<\/strong><\/td>R40,552<\/strong><\/td>R47,952<\/strong><\/td>R78,204<\/strong><\/td>R65,939<\/strong><\/td>R192,095<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary Vilakazi rose from Alexandra township and became the first woman to lead FirstRand, one of South Africa\u2019s most valuable banks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":874791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2098066485713289276","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2201535667333499","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18103761269460451","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[4088,23587,853],"class_list":["post-874787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-firstrand","tag-mary-vilakazi","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874787"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874907,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874787\/revisions\/874907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}