Take-home pay has been impacted by the country’s multiple economic challenges, including low economic growth, the COVID-19 pandemic, rolling blackouts, and rising inflation. That’s according to BankServ Africa, which processes transactions from banks and other financial institutions.
BankServ Africa shows that take-home salaries have been growing below inflation for the past five years.
Economist Elize Kruger says the challenging economic environment has also resulted in businesses struggling, with negative consequences on wages.
“The three years from 2020 have already been difficult on businesses … and although we’ve got a spike there of a low base. If you could just sort of listen to company results releases in the last while, [you will] know that the current environment is harsh and difficult for businesses.”
“It’s not an environment that’s conducive for job creation, [and] for a comfortable salary increase. It’s an environment where companies are in survival mode, trying to keep doors open, [and] trying to mitigate load shedding. It’s not an environment that is comfortable for the employees of companies.”
The video below is reporting more on the story:
