How much government employees are paid in South Africa

The average government employee earns R41,200 per month, nearly double that of the average salary in South Africa of R26,800 per month. 

The median public-service average monthly earnings have exceeded the national average by at least 50% since 2019. 

This was revealed in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s full Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday, 30 October 2024. 

This wage bill includes the compensation of government employees at the national, provincial, and local levels. It also includes the wages of employees at public entities and state-owned enterprises. 

Godongwana said one of the major risks to South Africa’s financial future is the public servant wage bill, which has grown strongly in recent years. 

South Africa’s public service has long been described as bloated and overpaid, with the National Treasury taking measures to slow the growth of the public sector wage bill in recent years.

Over the past three decades, the public servant wage bill has increased from 5.6% of GDP in 1994/95 to 10.4% in 2023/24. 

The National Treasury said this is largely the result of fast-growing average remuneration costs of government employees in the past thirty years. 

It also justified this significant increase, saying it is reflective of the growing burden on public servants. The ratio of the number of people served per public servant has increased from 32 in 1994 to 48 in 2024. 

As the demand for services such as healthcare, education, social welfare, and security increases, it adds pressure on the limited number of public-service workers, the Treasury said. 

It has also implemented a strategy to attract and retain skilled professionals in the public sector, with the government gradually reforming how public servants are paid and their incentive packages. 

“This was done mainly through higher wages as well as numerous benefits and allowances,” the Treasury said. 

“However, these higher average remuneration costs have become more expensive over time, hindering the government’s ability to effectively grow the public-service headcount due to affordability constraints.” 

Historically, public-service wages have been high compared to the national average earnings of formal, non-agricultural workers. 

This wage disparity, and the strong growth in public servant wages, can be seen in the graph below. 

National Treasury said this wage disparity has been driven by a range of factors, including the introduction of occupation-specific dispensations in the public sector to retain skilled professionals. 

The government has had to increase the wages of skilled public sector employees to prevent them from taking opportunities in the private sector. 

This has resulted in the number of high-earning public sector employees increasing while the number of lower-wage earners has remained relatively flat. 

As a result, the median public-service average monthly earnings have exceeded those of the national average monthly earnings by at least 50% since 2019. 

The average remuneration cost per public-service employee refers to the total cost that the employer incurs on average for compensating a single employee. 

This includes employee salaries and benefits, such as pensions, medical aid, housing, bonuses, and other forms of compensation. 

There are some positive signs that the government is taking action to limit the future growth of this wage bill as it poses a significant threat to the country’s financial health. 

The government is reinstating a plan to offer early retirement to senior civil servants as it seeks to reduce its wage bill. Previous early retirement offers had limited take-up.

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

The authorities have been mandated to approve applications that “do not reduce the pool of highly skilled individuals within government agencies”.