The Citizen reports that the average nominal take-home pay for South Africans of R14,305 in January declined by 7.5% compared to the same period last year, when it had been R15,467.
The average take-home pay for January was also somewhat lower than the R14,684 recorded in December. The average take-home salary in real terms in January 2023, compared to a year earlier, showed a notable 13.7% decline. This latest data taken from the BankservAfrica Take-Home Pay Index (BTPI) is said to show that the challenging SA economy is continuing to take a toll on salary payments. The BTPI reflects the trend in almost 4 million monthly salary payments, which represents about 37% of all non-farm employees in the SA labour market. “The constant load shedding, high production costs due to high fuel prices and rising wage demands, as well as elevated interest rates and moderating demand are all contributing to the dismal growth prospects faced by companies,” commented BankservAfrica’s Shergeran Naidoo. Many companies are redirecting their capital earmarked for investment towards self-sufficiency and becoming less dependent on Eskom, which makes it more likely that employment growth and salary increases are affected. “Adjusted for weekly payments, BankservAfrica’s data suggests that 606,500 fewer salaries were paid into South Africans’ bank accounts in January 2023, compared to the previous month,” independent economist Elize Kruger pointed out, adding that 60% of those job losses occurred in salary categories for people earning less than R5,000 per month. This confirmed that it was most likely a reversal of temporary jobs created for the annual festive season in December, Kruger noted. The BankservAfrica Private Pensions Index (BPPI) in nominal term remained flat compared to December.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen (subscriber access only)
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