Telecom giant Vodacom has for the first time revealed the cost of providing personal security services for its executives in light of continued concerns about the safety of senior businesspeople in South Africa.
The group, valued at R312bn on the JSE, on Friday released its annual report, which shows CEO Shameel Joosub was paid R137.4m before tax, including long-term incentives.
The amount also included R7.72m in “security arrangements provided due to the risk profile of the role” and a cellphone benefit — translating into about R640,000 a month.
In the previous year, Vodacom only disclosed the R19,000 in mobile phone benefits. The new disclosures are part of the group’s transparency enhancements to conform with amendments to the Companies Act.
CFO Raisibe Morathi’s pretax pay in the 2026 financial year came in at R68.8m, including R856,000 for security and mobile phone benefits.
Companies across the board are spending more on the safety of their executives to mitigate risk. This is because executives hold highly sensitive information, and any physical risk or capture could lead to an immediate drop in stock prices and widespread organisational instability.
This is more so in South Africa, which has experienced a surge in kidnappings and extortion over the past few years.
Vodacom also unveiled its remuneration data. The group’s top 5% earners received almost R6m a year on average, while the bottom 5% earned just less than R370,000 on average.
The group hiked its minimum pay in South Africa to R23,333 a month.
“In South Africa, for all permanent, full-time employees of Vodacom … we have established a minimum annual pay level of about R280,000 with effect from July 2026, which is set above the local living wage benchmark provided by Wage Indicator,” the group said.
“This minimum pay level is intentionally designed to ensure that employees are able to meet their basic living needs and maintain a reasonable standard of living.
“The group’s lowest-paid employees therefore earn above both the externally referenced living wage threshold and Vodacom South Africa’s internally approved minimum pay standard, reinforcing our commitment to fair and responsible remuneration.”
The group’s executives’ short-term incentives surged in the year under review as group headline earnings per share jumped 22%.
The company’s executives and board have not been shy to pursue acquisitive growth to build scale, with an investment in Egypt paying off. In addition, North America contributed R15.3bn to group operating profit.
The company is on the verge of sealing a controlling stake in Kenya’s Safaricom, a deal that will give it full control of fintech major M-Pesa.
The solid 2026 results saw the group increase its 2030 ambitions; it is now targeting 275-million clients in the next five years from 260-million previously. It is aiming for 130-million financial services customers over the same period, having reached 103-million in the year under review.
In all, the group paid its more than 15,000 employees R11bn in the year.
Remuneration committee chair Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa said the group’s pay and incentives are geared towards talent management.
“We continuously assessed the effectiveness of the talent framework, which broadens our ability to identify employees with the potential to take on larger, more complex roles,” she said in the annual report.
“The framework further strengthens our ability to differentiate between types of potential, enabling the business to deliver more targeted, value-adding development support while also proactively identifying employees with critical skills.”
Click Here For The Original Source
