Ramaphosa gives his executive pay hike of 3.8%

President Cyril Ramaphosa is giving the deputy president, ministers and their deputies a pay hike of 3.8%.

This is slightly less than the 4.1% recommended by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-Bearers in their latest report.

The salary bump, which also includes parliamentarians and members of provincial legislatures, comes at time when opposition party ActionSA hopes a bill to cut perks to the executive will be discussed by the house in 2026.

Ramaphosa’s approval of the salary increase is published by notice in the government gazette.

The salary packages are to be backdated to April 2025.

It puts the annual salary of Deputy President Paul Mashatile at R3.2 million, that of ministers at R2.7 million, while deputy ministers are to earn R2.2 million.

The president’s salary is not included in this schedule, since his salary is approved by Parliament.

Last week, ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said his party would push hard in 2026 to drive through its bill to abolish deputy ministers and to curtail the benefits enjoyed by ministers.

The approved salary hike pushes up the annual salary for the deputy president, the National Assembly speaker and minister by more than R100,000, while deputy ministers will earn around R84,000 more per year.

Parliamentarians will receive an increase of between R48,000 and R67,000 more per year, depending on what positions they hold.