Almost R77 million was paid to the CEOs of three of SA's telecoms operators in the past financial year, while the CFOs walked away with almost R35 million between them.
This as Vodacom, Telkom and MTN recently disclosed the remuneration packages of their chiefs via their yearly integrated company reports.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub was paid almost R21.8 million in the past financial year, doubling his R10.9 million remuneration package from the previous year. For the year ended 31 March 2016, Joosub received almost R14 million in short-term incentives, a salary of R7.8 million, as well as R3 600 listed as "other".
Vodacom remains SA's biggest mobile operator, with around 35.1 million subscribers in SA and a total of 61.8 million group subscribers across its five African operations.
Meanwhile, in the same financial period, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko walked away with R14.5 million. Maseko's total included a guaranteed salary package of almost R7.5 million, as well as R6.1 million in short-term incentives and almost R942 000 in "fringe and other benefits". He made over R2.2 million more than his total of over R12.3 million the previous year.
Telkom recently announced it had successfully completed a three-year turnaround strategy, but remains SA's smallest mobile network with 2.7 million subscribers.
MTN had a more complicated, and expensive, year when it came to executive salaries because of the exit of group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa during its financial year that ended on 31 December 2015. Dabengwa was given R23.6 million for "compensation for loss of office" after he resigned as group CEO in November 2015 ? just two weeks after MTN revealed it was facing a N1.04 trillion (R71 billion at the time) fine in Nigeria for failing to meet a regulatory deadline to disconnect 5.1 million subscribers.
In total, Dabengwa walked away from MTN almost R40.6 million richer when including his over R8.4 million salary, share gains (R4.5 million), post-employment benefits (R1 million) and other benefits (R2.9 million) as well as his exit package. In the previous financial year, Dabengwa's total package was R28.1 million, including a R13.3 million bonus.
Because of Dabengwa's exit, former-CEO Phuthuma Nhleko had to step in as group executive chairman to steer the ship. This job earned him R5 million for less than two months in the role. He also took home another R3.5 million in 2015 for his work as a non-executive director for the group. Nhleko helped negotiate a settlement with Nigerian authorities, with MTN eventually agreeing in June to pay N330 billion to the Nigerian government over three years.
New group president and CEO Rob Shuter has been appointed but will only take up the role "as soon as it is practically possible in 2017 but not later than 1 July 2017".
MTN remains a dominant player on the African continent, as well as in the Middle East, with 230.3 million subscribers across its 22 operations. However, the telco is still in second place locally, with around 30.1 million South African subscribers.
The salary of Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos remains a mystery as the company is not publicly listed and is therefore not required to disclose any financial information ? including executive pay packages. Last month, Cell C did disclose it now has over 24 million subscribers in SA, leaving it in third place.
The CFOs
The men holding the company purse strings didn't do too badly either when it came to remuneration packages.
Telkom CFO Deon Fredericks took home a total of almost R9.5 million compared to around R8.7 million the previous financial year. His guaranteed package was R5.25 million, with short-term incentives worth R3.7 million and over R500 000 in fringe and other benefits.
New Vodacom CFO Till Streichert joined the group in August 2015. His total of almost R9.2 million is separated on the company report into payments in two currencies ? with R1.09 million detailed in rand, along with an additional £441 000 (R8.1 million).
Former CFO Ivan Dittrich left the company with a total of R7.7 million when he resigned at the end of July 2015, compared to R6.2 million the previous year. Dittrich's salary package for four months of work was almost R1.6 million, along with R6.1 million in "other" benefits which include resignation/termination benefits.
MTN group CFO Brett Goschen's total package for the year to 31 December 2015 was almost R9.3 million, including a base salary of R7.6 million. His total package was actually less than the previous year when he walked away with R13.3 million - including a R5.6 million base salary and a R6.8 million bonus.
After 14 years with the company, Goschen recently resigned from his role and will leave MTN at the end of September. He will be replaced by Gunter Engling, who is stepping in as acting group CFO until a permanent replacement is found.
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