{"id":879432,"date":"2026-10-12T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=879432"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:58:22","slug":"man-running-the-most-valuable-food-retailer-in-south-africa-now-earns-r2-2-million-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/879432\/man-running-the-most-valuable-food-retailer-in-south-africa-now-earns-r2-2-million-a-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Man running the most valuable food retailer in South Africa now earns R2.2 million a week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht earned R117.8 million in the 2026 financial year, which works out to approximately R2.26 million a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Shoprite\u2019s latest remuneration report, Engelbrecht\u2019s total earned remuneration increased from R87 million in 2025 to R117.793 million in 2026, a net increase of R30.788 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason for the increase was a once-off performance-related award linked to the conclusion of a three-year incentive programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report explained that the Executive Super Stretch Incentive (ESSI) contributed R36.403 million to Engelbrecht\u2019s remuneration in 2026, compared with nothing in the previous financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the share appreciation rights associated with the award only vest after the financial year ended, the amount was included in remuneration because the performance period had been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incentive was linked to a three-year target established in 2023, with the report recording 100% achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The share appreciation rights were awarded in October 2023 at R235.63 and are scheduled to vest in October 2026, with settlement in three instalments in October 2026, 2027 and 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engelbrecht\u2019s fixed remuneration also increased during the year. His guaranteed pay rose from R20.971 million to R22.027 million, including a base salary of R21.138 million, up from R20.019 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report attributed the base salary increase to an \u201cinflation-based increase awarded in July 2025\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pension fund and medical aid benefits rose to R562,000, while other payments, including his car allowance, subsistence allowances and employee discounts, declined to R327,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His short-term incentive increased from R18.088 million to R21.328 million after he achieved 108.3% of the operational targets for the year, up from 96.9% in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the value of shares that vested under the Executive Share Plan fell from R25.895 million to R18.209 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Payments deferred under the executive incentive arrangement also declined, from R20.849 million to R17.719 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engelbrecht\u2019s qualifying dividends from unvested shares increased from R1.202 million to R2.107 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building the most valuable retailer in South Africa <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He joined Shoprite in 1997 and spent a decade heading the group\u2019s executive projects office, helping establish businesses including Money Market, Usave and LiquorShop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also oversaw strategic acquisitions, including Computicket and Transpharm Pharmaceutical Wholesalers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After becoming COO in 2005, Engelbrecht worked alongside former chief executive Whitey Basson for more than a decade. He succeeded Basson as CEO on 1 January 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under his leadership, Shoprite has expanded its digital retail and financial services operations, including the launch of Checkers Sixty60 in 2019 and the Xtra Savings rewards programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has also developed its Money Market offering into a broader financial services platform, including a transactional account with no monthly fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite\u2019s financial results for 2026 show the scale of the business Engelbrecht now leads. Group sales increased by 7.2% to R270.8 billion, while trading profit rose 8.4% to R16.2 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its trading margin reached 6%, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation amounted to R25.8 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customer visits increased by 4.5% to 1.3 billion, while sales volumes grew by 5.6% to 9.3 billion products. The retailer also added 5,491 direct jobs, taking its permanent workforce to 174,430 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group declared R4.7 billion in dividends, increasing its total dividend by 11.8% to 873 cents per ordinary share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite\u2019s market capitalisation reached approximately R192 billion in October 2026, making it South Africa\u2019s most valuable food retailer as shares gained around 80% over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pieter Engelbrecht<\/strong>‘s total remuneration summary table<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/th>2026 Remuneration<\/th>2025 Remuneration<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Base salary<\/strong><\/td>R21,138,000<\/td>R20,019,000<\/td><\/tr>
Benefits<\/strong><\/td>R562,000<\/td>R500,000<\/td><\/tr>
Other<\/strong><\/td>R327,000<\/td>R452,000<\/td><\/tr>
Total Guaranteed Salary<\/strong><\/td>R22,027,000<\/strong><\/td>R20,971,000<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
STI<\/strong><\/td>R21,328,000<\/td>18,088,000<\/td><\/tr>
ESP Vesting<\/strong><\/td>R18,209,000<\/td>25,895,000<\/td><\/tr>
Qualifying Dividends<\/strong><\/td>R2,107,000<\/td>1,202,000<\/td><\/tr>
STI Deferral \/ EDI<\/strong><\/td>R17,719,000<\/td>R20,849,000<\/td><\/tr>
ESSI<\/strong><\/td>R36,403,000<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Total Earned Remuneration<\/strong><\/td>R117,793,000<\/strong><\/td>R87,005,000<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht earned R117.8 million in the 2026 financial year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":864296,"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":"2109660624590405881","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2234849527335446","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18026671406700959","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[5223,21554,7520,17414,853],"class_list":["post-879432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-checkers","tag-pieter-engelbrecht","tag-shoprite","tag-sixty60","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879432","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=879432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879461,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879432\/revisions\/879461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}