Vodacom doubles its CEO's pay to R22m

Vodacom released its 2016 integrated report on Friday which reveals that Joosub’s guaranteed package was increased from R7.2m in 2015 to R7.8m for the financial year ended March 2016.

Moreover, Joosub’s short-term incentive, or bonus pay, was hiked from R3.7m in 2015 to almost R14m for the year ended March 2016.

Excluding long-term benefits, Joosub’s total pay for the company’s 2016 financial year was R21.8m, according to the integrated report. Last year, Joosub took home R10.9m in total pay from Vodacom.The hike in Joosub’s pay comes amid a solid financial performance from Vodacom.

Earlier this year, the company reported that its total revenue across its African and South African operations increased from R74.5bn to R80bn for the financial year.The group also reported that its headline earnings per share (HEPS) was up 2.7% to 883 cents per share.

This comes in the wake of the latest BankservAfrica Disposable Salary Index (BDSI) released on Wednesday. BankservAfrica tracks salary and pension payments made via the payments system in SA, which provides insight into total, as well as average payments into individuals’ bank accounts.

It expects salaries to continue to increase in nominal terms this year, but at a rate below or near inflation.
The BDSI for April points out that the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) expects inflation to average 6.7% this year.

"Generally, take-home salaries are not expected to keep up with inflation this year as negotiated increases typically use past inflation as a starting point," the BDSI explains.

"Last year the inflation rate in SA averaged 4.6%, meaning most salary increases this year will be based on that figure, plus possibly an extra 1 to 1.5%."

The BDSI report adds that, additionally, the minister of finance only allowed for a 3.4% adjustment for inflation when he announced the new tax brackets."This means most people will in effect pay about 2% more in taxes in real terms," according to the April BDSI.

"The current inflation shock is also influencing the payments to medical insurance schemes, which are often deducted before an employee’s take-home pay lands in the bank."