2025 Directors Remuneration and Trends Report | Press release

Executive pay across JSE Top 200: CEO total remuneration rises by 8%, CFO by 19% and long-term incentives increase in 2025, reshaping South African executives' pay mix. 

Johannesburg, 15 October 2025– PwC’s 2025 Directors Remuneration and Trends report reveals that executive director pay has rebounded over the past year, with increases outpacing inflation and drawing renewed attention to fairness, transparency, and alignment with performance. 

Despite macroeconomic pressure and heightened scrutiny of executive pay, shareholders continue to back remuneration practices. Total Remuneration (TR) for executive directors increased over the past year, with CEOs and CFOs seeing median increases of 8% and 19%, respectively. 

Non-executive directors also saw increases in remuneration, with board member fees rising 12% on a median basis—well above inflation. However, board chair fees rose more modestly at 6%. Despite these increases, shareholder support remained high, with 98.11% of votes in favour of board fee resolutions. This indicates a general alignment between remuneration practices and shareholder expectations.

Support for remuneration policies (91.6%) and implementation reports (83.8%) remained stable year-on-year. However, the number of companies receiving less than 50% shareholder approval for their implementation reports more than doubled—from 2.6% in the prior year to 5.4%—highlighting pockets of dissatisfaction. Concerns included the introduction of “super-stretch” long-term incentives (LTIs) awarded in addition to standard allocations, often without clear rationale. These developments suggest that while overall support is strong, shareholders are increasingly focused on fairness, transparency, and the intent behind executive pay decisions.

In addition, executive variable pay—particularly LTI design—is under growing pressure to evolve. Early signs point to increased upside potential and ad hoc awards, aligning with global practices but raising questions about rationale and consistency. At the same time, companies are rethinking their broader employee value propositions amid rising employee financial stress and talent retention challenges. Emerging trends include tax-optimised benefits, innovative incentive schemes, and renewed focus on recognition and well-being.

As South African companies diversify revenue streams and expand offshore, they are recalibrating remuneration strategies to align with changing business models and performance outcomes. “Boards must strike a balance between competitive pay, performance alignment, and fairness,” says Ebrahimi. “It’s clear that stakeholder expectations—both from shareholders and employees—are rising.”