The first female CEO of a top government-owned finance institution paid R15.5 million

Boitumelo Mosako, the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s chief executive officer, received a salary package of R15.51 million in the 2025 financial year.

This was revealed in the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s annual financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), established in 1983, is a development finance institution owned by the South African Government.

Its purpose is to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development to improve the quality of life of the people in South Africa, SADC, and the rest of Africa.

This is achieved by providing financial and non-financial investments in the social and economic infrastructure sectors.

It focuses on energy, transportation, bulk water, and ICT across Africa, and raises debt funding from local and international financial institutions.

The DBSA is usually a low-profile institution which does its business without much fanfare or attention. However, this changed a few years ago.

In 2020, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa raised concerns regarding the handling of defaulted loans totalling R426 million and political appointments at the DBSA.

The Auditor-General (AG) has also raised concerns about contested debt write-offs, but the DBSA maintained clean or unqualified audit opinions on its financial statements.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) held an inquiry into allegations of corruption, fraud and maladministration at the DBSA in 2021.

The DBSA dismissed these allegations, saying that it was well-run and that all its loan write-offs followed standard accounting procedures.

Former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni also backed the institution, saying the allegations were unfounded and emanated from a bitter former board member. 

The woman in charge of the Development Bank of Southern Africa

Boitumelo Mosako made history by becoming the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s first female chief executive in 2023.

She was appointed as CEO and Managing Director of the institution on 1 April 2023, and her contract runs until 31 March 2028.

Mosako, who was born in 1978, had a long career in the financial sector before taking the top job at the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

After completing a BCom and a post-graduate diploma in accounting at the University of Cape Town, she joined EY as a trainee accountant.

She quickly rose through the ranks and by 2004, she served as a senior associate and audit manager.

From there, she moved to Life Healthcare, where she was a senior internal auditor, and later joined Citigroup as a corporate finance transactor.

Between 2007 and 2013, she served as the executive director of finance and investments of Triumph Venture Capital.

In 2013, she joined the DBSA as its General Manager of Finance and moved to the SABS in 2016 to take up the role of Chief Financial Officer.

In 2018, she returned to the DBSA as its new chief financial officer and has been with the institution ever since.

As the leader of the institution, she focuses on people. “The people who benefit from the work we do are important to me and the bank,” she said.

 “We are actively paying attention to their needs to ensure that we are fit for purpose in the infrastructure we deliver.”

She is well remunerated for her work. In the 2025 financial year, she was paid R15.509 million, which included a basic salary of R6.848 million.

She was also paid a performance bonus of R3.351 million and a retention bonus of R3.724 million.

These bonuses increased her salary significantly from the R10.503 million she was paid in the 2024 financial year.

Other Development Bank of Southern Africa’s executives were also well remunerated, as shown in the table below.

The table does not include the medical aid, group life and provident fund contributions, or cellphone and travel allowances.