Mediamec Chief executives at the JSE’s 200 largest listed companies received median annual remuneration of R23.2 million, up 9%, as incentive awards drove earnings higher.
The figure amounts to roughly R1.93 million a month, according to PwC’s latest Directors Remuneration and Trends report, which examined executive remuneration for the financial year to February 2026.
Growth in incentive payouts far outpaced increases in guaranteed remuneration. For CEOs, median long-term incentive outcomes climbed 67% and short-term incentives increased 42%. Median total guaranteed pay rose 6% to R8.814 million.
Chief financial officers recorded a 7% increase in median total remuneration to R13.489 million. Their long-term incentive outcomes grew 54%, while short-term incentives were up 39%. Guaranteed pay increased by only 1%, reaching a median of R5.580 million.
PwC linked the higher payouts to improved company performance and favourable outcomes when incentive awards vested.
Makhosazana Mabaso, a reward partner at PwC, said incentives, particularly long-term awards, were the main reason for the increase, rather than guaranteed pay. She said boards needed to keep remuneration tied to performance and sustainable value while considering the expectations of executives, employees and shareholders.
Despite the higher executive earnings, shareholder backing for remuneration implementation reports strengthened. Support reached 89.6% in 2026, compared with 83.8% the previous year.
The share of implementation reports opposed by more than half of shareholders dropped from 5.4% to 0.6%. No remuneration policy resolution faced majority opposition in 2026, down from 1.2% in 2025.
Some decisions nevertheless continued to attract scrutiny, particularly sizeable sign-on awards without performance requirements and large long-term incentive grants that companies had not sufficiently justified.
Support remained between 50% and 75% for about 9.6% of remuneration policy resolutions and 9.8% of implementation report resolutions.
The findings follow remuneration-related amendments to the Companies Act that took effect on 22 May 2026, introducing stronger requirements for pay transparency and accountability to shareholders.
PwC reward partner Leila Ebrahimi said improved pay information could help organisations spot patterns, identify possible gaps and make better-informed remuneration decisions.
The report also highlighted the limited representation of women in senior executive roles. Women held 10% of CEO positions and 25% of CFO posts among the companies studied.
The median guaranteed pay gap between male and female CEOs was 7% in 2026. Among CFOs, men received median guaranteed remuneration 2% higher than women.
Non-executive directors also saw increases, with median board member fees rising 7.7% and chairperson fees increasing 6.5%.
Proposed annual fees had a median of R1.754 million for chairpersons, R1.509 million for deputy chairpersons and R1.193 million for lead independent directors. For board members, the median proposed annual fee was R518,000.
