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R1.5 billion for 712 employees: A breakdown of how much SA public servants earn
Spoiler alert: it's a lot.
Picture: iStock
Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo recently responded to a written parliamentary question and provided a breakdown of how much government employees earn.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Leon Schreiber had requested a detailed breakdown of the current salaries of government employees.
He also queried the total amount due to be spent annually on paying public servant salaries, as well as a breakdown of the total numbers of government employees.
Government salaries
Salary levels
According to Dlodlo, there are 16 salary levels (SLs).
Employees on level one earn R103,562 per year (R8,630 per month), while employees on level 16 earn a whopping R2,130,602 per year (R177,550 per month).
While only 263 employees fall under SL1 – and 712 under SL16 – the majority are classified as SL5 (201,244 employees), SL6 (129,361), SL7 (306,703), SL8 (159,899), and SL9 (99,927).
Top tier versus the average citizen
Here’s where it gets interesting, though. Government spends R1,516,988,624.00 per annum, just on the 712 employees in SL16 alone.
Yes, that is R1.5 billion.
On one salary tier.
Meanwhile, according to Stats SA, the average monthly salary for an ordinary South African is R23,122 per month as of February 2021, practically unchanged from the R23,119 in November 2020
| Salary Level | Number of employees | Monthly salary | Total per annum |
| SL1 | 263 | 103,562.00 | 27,236,806.00 |
| SL2 | 77651 | 171,278.00 | 13,299,907,978.00 |
| SL3 | 69003 | 206,957.00 | 14,280,653,871.00 |
| SL4 | 38663 | 247,296.00 | 9,561,205,248.00 |
| SL5 | 201244 | 283,227.00 | 56,997,734,388.00 |
| SL6 | 129361 | 332,985.00 | 43,075,272,585.00 |
| SL7 | 306703 | 411,227.00 | 126,124,554,581.00 |
| SL8 | 159899 | 479,868.00 | 76,730,413,332.00 |
| SL9 | 99927 | 567,956.00 | 56,754,139,212.00 |
| SL10 | 54510 | 710,273.00 | 38,716,981,230.00 |
| SL11 | 35365 | 851,022.00 | 30,096,393,030.00 |
| SL12 | 27399 | 1,222,246.00 | 33,488,318,154.00 |
| SL13 | 7660 | 1,147,609.00 | 8,790,684,940.00 |
| SL14 | 2405 | 1,378,620.00 | 3,315,581,100.00 |
| SL15 | 528 | 1,661,168.00 | 877,096,704.00 |
| SL16 | 712 | 2,130,602.00 | 1,516,988,624.00 |
| 1211293 | R513,653,161,783.00 |
But wait; there’s more. The figures provided by Dlodlo also show that 27,423 employees are classified as “Other” and do not fall under any of the salary tiers.
The estimated total cost of employment for these employees add up to a staggering R12,097,656,000 (R12 billion)
Wage agreements
In response to Schreiber’s question about the total amount to be spent annually in terms of the latest public service wage agreement, Dlodlo provided the figures below:
| Salary level | Total cost of implementing Resolution 1 of 2021 |
| SL1 | R9 552 000 |
| SL2 | R1 235 509 000 |
| SL3 | R1 146 359 000 |
| SL4 | R619 649 000 |
| SL5 | R3 382 164 000 |
| SL6 | R2 457 016 000 |
| SL7 | R5 854 878 000 |
| SL8 | R3 434 624 000 |
| SL9 | R2 261 454 000 |
| SL10 | R1 416 912 000 |
| SL11 | R989 621 000 |
| SL12 | R888 732 000 |
| SL13 | N/A |
| SL14 | N/A |
| SL15 | N/A |
| SL16 | N/A |
| Total | R23,696,470.000 |
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