The staggering salaries of South Africa’s top banking CEOs have sparked outrage and disbelief, especially as millions of ordinary South Africans continue to face deepening poverty, unemployment, and financial hardship.

Leading this pack is Investec’s CEO, Fani Titi, who earned an astronomical R175 million in the 2023 financial year — a jaw-dropping R475,452 per day. In a country where many citizens are struggling to make ends meet, this level of compensation raises serious ethical questions about inequality and corporate responsibility.

The average South African worker earns just R26,894 per month, according to the latest Stats SA quarterly employment survey. This equates to R322,728 annually — an amount Fani Titi earns in just one day. The absurdity is that Titi made more in 24 hours than the average worker earns in a year of hard labour. While Titi's paycheck is partially due to the weakened rand, the stark contrast between executive pay and the wages of ordinary South Africans reflects the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Second on the list, Nedbank’s CEO Mike Brown earned R92.5 million in 2023, which translates to R253,425 per day — still more than 10 times what the average worker earns in a month. Third in line is Standard Bank’s Sim Tshabalala, who received R83.3 million, or R228,230 per day.

Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie, despite leading a bank known for its focus on lower-income customers, earned R65.74 million in the same year, which equals R180,109 per day. At the bottom of the pile is FNB’s Jacques Celliers, who took home R31.9 million, or R87,458 per day – still an amount that most South Africans can barely imagine earning in a year.

A Country in Crisis: Poverty Deepens

While banking CEOs are cashing in, South Africa's economic crisis continues to deepen. Poverty is rising, unemployment remains alarmingly high, and load-shedding is crippling businesses and household incomes alike. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened an already fragile economy, and even now, recovery is slow and uneven. According to Stats SA, over half of the country lives below the poverty line, while food inflation pushes basic necessities further out of reach for millions of people. South Africans are tightening their belts, but corporate elites at the top of the financial food chain are reaping immense rewards.

The average citizen faces steep increases in the cost of living, from fuel to groceries, rent, and healthcare, all while wages stagnate or shrink. For the many who have lost their jobs or seen their businesses fail, the situation is even bleaker. Yet banking CEOs, whose firms continue to profit from fees, loans, and investments, are raking in salaries that seem obscenely disconnected from the financial realities of their customers and employees.

Ethical Implications: Corporate Responsibility

The enormous pay packages of these CEOs raise pressing questions about corporate responsibility. How can banks justify these kinds of paychecks when their customers — many of whom are scraping by on low wages or no income — are drowning in debt, facing mounting costs, and seeing little hope of financial relief?

It is easy to argue that running a major financial institution requires expertise, leadership, and a capacity for navigating complex market dynamics. But does that justify such extravagant compensation, particularly in a country where inequality is already a profound issue?

In stark contrast, South African citizens are experiencing record levels of unemployment (over 30%) and extreme poverty. Many are living without adequate access to healthcare, education, or even basic necessities like food and clean water.

Exploitation and Inequality: When Will It End?

The banking sector in South Africa has long been criticized for the high fees it charges customers. Whether it’s transaction fees, loan repayments, or overdraft charges, the banks consistently profit from ordinary citizens, who are already financially squeezed. The enormous salaries of their CEOs seem to mock the very people who rely on these institutions for their daily banking needs.

How can we accept a society where a CEO earns in one day what the average South African won’t earn in an entire year? The very same citizens struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages are the ones keeping these banking giants afloat through high fees and loans. This exploitation feeds into the broader narrative of a growing wealth divide in South Africa, where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

A Call for Change

South Africa’s banking sector must confront the stark reality of economic inequality. It’s time for these institutions, and their CEOs, to take a hard look at the ethical implications of their enormous pay packages. There is an urgent need for greater accountability, transparency, and fairness in the distribution of wealth.

As South Africans sink deeper into poverty, it is not enough for banking executives to sit comfortably atop their ivory towers. The obscene levels of executive pay amidst widespread poverty and unemployment must be challenged. Without change, the country risks further deepening the chasm between the haves and the have-nots — a divide that is not only unsustainable but morally unacceptable.

* Adri Senekal de Wet is the Editor-in-Chief of Independent Media.