Salaries in South Africa

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Category: Features

South African salaries in 2015: how much IT professionals earn

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The salary survey was completed by 3,254 IT and telecommunications professionals across the country.

The survey gathered salary information from South African IT and telecoms professionals relating to age, experience, qualification, company size, seniority, and job area.

The survey revealed that the average monthly IT and telecoms salary in South Africa is R33,067.

An average salary, however, is not of much value in terms of seeing how IT professionals in SA stack up against one another when it comes to remuneration.

The following tables provide an overview of IT salaries based on profession, age, experience, company size, job level, and qualification.

Profession and age

Basic monthly salary (ZAR)
Profession 20 to 25 26 to 30 31 to 35 36 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60
Management — 29,876 41,892 48,439 53,779 53,953
Project management 18,405 28,606 41,373 47,384 49,828 58,159
Programming, software development 19,589 31,706 44,760 50,772 50,117 52,206
Database design and administration 18,823 30,495 44,694 48,879 50,674 57,321
Systems administration 16,069 24,755 34,354 40,108 44,542 56,714
Networks 14,963 23,783 33,848 40,822 47,224 56,891
Security 16,983 25,626 37,237 40,838 47,090 61,374
Design 18,862 27,561 39,693 40,158 47,713 61,710
Sales, marketing 14,984 24,372 39,136 43,146 52,412 42,500
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 14,191 21,253 29,672 36,679 42,323 50,988
Education, training, research 16,522 26,405 34,929 42,344 48,584 42,427
Internet, e-commerce, website management 17,326 26,006 37,870 43,242 47,002 40,600
Analyst, consultant 19,356 31,740 42,461 49,940 50,420 54,104
Communications, writer, media 17,548 25,001 35,144 39,938 43,237 50,000
 
Total yearly pay package (ZAR)
Profession 20 to 25 26 to 30 31 to 35 36 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60
Management — 384,949 547,241 637,383 727,149 719,908
Project management 228,747 369,804 542,699 626,039 653,541 790,356
Programming, software development 245,731 398,944 576,978 645,809 644,418 673,130
Database design and administration 234,190 384,511 577,604 615,662 644,266 773,646
Systems administration 203,421 314,174 443,816 514,252 573,850 778,058
Networks 188,155 305,672 436,281 532,612 611,858 808,315
Security 215,681 326,320 479,089 518,394 600,000 840,920
Design 237,248 346,772 513,777 509,101 630,670 879,840
Sales, marketing 191,609 325,606 514,383 608,505 718,471 700,000
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 178,756 274,491 379,920 463,844 543,003 749,974
Education, training, research 207,634 344,757 453,573 543,474 655,356 577,125
Internet, e-commerce, website management 216,235 327,405 479,026 551,952 582,691 585,400
Analyst, consultant 242,990 408,194 553,443 632,722 659,314 724,460
Communications, writer, media 215,912 321,288 443,831 492,000 615,993 575,000

Profession and experience

Basic monthly salary (ZAR)
Profession Under 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 20 years Over 20 years
Management — 24,068 33,554 46,805 51,829
Project management 19,700 25,647 32,845 44,774 54,947
Programming, software development 19,124 26,097 37,264 49,673 54,595
Database design and administration 17,616 24,497 35,886 49,397 56,695
Systems administration 18,969 19,942 27,236 37,973 48,935
Networks 15,744 18,638 26,128 38,025 49,460
Security 18,173 20,267 28,336 39,249 49,304
Design 18,365 23,287 31,626 41,623 55,557
Sales, marketing 13,347 20,563 29,650 42,440 48,333
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 14,007 16,670 23,133 34,515 45,145
Education, training, research 20,441 21,478 29,705 38,887 44,507
Internet, e-commerce, website management 16,946 21,582 29,222 41,079 48,589
Analyst, consultant 21,615 27,701 37,832 47,475 52,782
Communications, writer, media 18,000 20,621 29,938 36,993 47,128
 
Total yearly pay package (ZAR)
Profession Under 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 20 years Over 20 years
Management — 310,802 432,662 621,287 679,568
Project management 248,000 329,288 422,997 591,348 734,629
Programming, software development 240,800 328,623 471,106 641,402 691,154
Database design and administration 220,566 309,651 453,130 634,582 731,525
Systems administration 238,527 251,275 347,900 491,454 633,396
Networks 193,594 236,966 336,572 493,908 649,273
Security 232,657 255,250 362,205 500,381 655,580
Design 227,890 296,820 402,395 533,639 756,294
Sales, marketing 170,920 270,513 392,010 568,364 731,111
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 173,875 211,475 296,880 443,102 602,821
Education, training, research 260,518 275,179 385,598 510,540 587,045
Internet, e-commerce, website management 212,337 273,653 364,809 520,485 631,128
Analyst, consultant 268,477 355,078 485,260 618,189 691,715
Communications, writer, media 216,000 258,590 388,968 470,915 615,421

Profession and qualification

Basic monthly salary (ZAR)
Profession Some schooling Matric Certificate Diploma Degree Master’s degree Doctorate (PhD)
Management 29,568 38,805 34,081 38,215 44,009 46,473 —
Project management 27,845 35,957 31,416 34,781 41,611 41,936 38,667
Programming, software development 36,585 38,772 36,798 36,415 36,963 44,086 35,167
Database design and administration 46,877 37,199 35,364 37,607 36,837 41,990 36,750
Systems administration 26,546 31,761 26,201 28,941 34,564 41,843 —
Networks 24,480 30,541 25,533 27,693 34,766 43,251 —
Security 15,549 33,566 28,596 30,273 35,055 43,700 —
Design 25,102 29,967 29,339 32,016 32,539 38,232 —
Sales, marketing 27,271 27,752 29,084 32,032 32,285 44,829 —
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 24,227 26,253 22,755 24,115 29,444 40,681 —
Education, training, research 11,425 29,824 28,829 30,174 33,868 37,967 —
Internet, e-commerce, website management 30,219 31,561 26,746 31,452 33,455 39,552 —
Analyst, consultant 36,502 36,540 36,521 39,708 37,894 42,680 —
Communications, writer, media 17,000 31,113 29,342 30,082 28,470 48,500 —
 
Total yearly pay package (ZAR)
Profession Some schooling Matric Certificate Diploma Degree Master’s degree Doctorate (PhD)
Management 402,104 508,943 444,166 497,430 571,404 685,192 —
Project management 354,372 470,600 410,148 450,500 546,140 565,205 476,667
Programming, software development 499,683 489,309 469,027 461,997 472,191 569,345 457,333
Database design and administration 653,524 474,528 446,776 473,533 472,474 543,998 496,000
Systems administration 346,857 407,888 333,478 369,339 452,792 513,752 —
Networks 324,020 390,907 332,668 356,363 449,252 556,690 —
Security 232,930 430,281 366,927 383,915 451,619 546,700 —
Design 323,219 384,560 382,925 400,739 416,173 514,734 —
Sales, marketing 345,664 356,883 376,265 450,254 422,831 673,657 —
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 324,719 342,427 288,955 307,958 380,183 535,504 —
Education, training, research 235,000 400,567 378,847 384,547 436,647 500,900 —
Internet, e-commerce, website management 404,281 401,167 338,535 392,208 424,902 505,511 —
Analyst, consultant 512,219 466,992 476,278 509,699 488,718 558,358 —
Communications, writer, media 204,000 407,547 389,083 375,143 365,188 633,000 —

Profession and job level

Basic monthly salary (ZAR)
Profession Support Administrative Professional Middle management Top management
Project management 20,791 21,736 34,140 41,904 49,898
Programming, software development 18,300 26,875 36,064 46,404 51,169
Database design and administration 19,263 24,044 36,479 42,685 54,038
Systems administration 20,125 22,059 31,821 36,959 46,895
Networks 17,947 18,555 30,854 37,242 46,201
Security 18,797 18,945 32,013 38,732 49,050
Design 19,733 18,640 30,674 36,738 44,068
Sales, marketing 13,393 12,685 32,214 35,598 39,118
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 17,378 15,419 28,752 34,216 39,696
Education, training, research 19,777 17,825 30,627 40,658 41,026
Internet, e-commerce, website management 17,582 20,670 31,986 36,818 40,385
Analyst, consultant 23,940 19,750 38,151 44,304 47,451
Communications, writer, media 15,268 18,500 29,503 39,723 —
 
Total yearly pay package (ZAR)
Profession Support Administrative Professional Middle management Top management
Project management 261,307 260,689 442,543 547,518 683,201
Programming, software development 229,470 323,000 457,026 601,619 673,377
Database design and administration 240,776 297,013 461,863 550,192 718,276
Systems administration 257,254 276,810 407,530 478,309 605,648
Networks 226,852 238,848 400,586 480,468 606,745
Security 235,772 253,739 408,761 496,932 640,627
Design 251,144 230,880 389,023 485,029 573,438
Sales, marketing 175,872 178,470 437,500 464,183 530,206
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 221,074 198,128 369,505 437,399 533,512
Education, training, research 252,508 215,500 399,271 534,482 538,263
Internet, e-commerce, website management 216,679 258,614 403,652 470,550 516,971
Analyst, consultant 300,814 285,500 490,918 573,095 638,470
Communications, writer, media 206,737 222,000 378,248 505,772 —

Profession and company size

Basic monthly salary (ZAR)
Profession Under 10 10 to 100 101 to 1000 Over 1000
Management 29,924 35,858 41,128 46,215
Project management 28,772 34,937 38,341 41,588
Programming, software development 31,737 34,643 38,223 41,744
Database design and administration 31,857 34,138 39,851 41,236
Systems administration 25,382 26,776 30,794 35,231
Networks 25,074 26,532 29,556 34,262
Security 27,188 28,130 33,887 37,394
Design 25,805 29,600 34,521 36,871
Sales, marketing 23,911 28,269 40,461 41,994
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 23,002 23,268 26,361 28,082
Education, training, research 28,005 29,667 33,509 33,161
Internet, e-commerce, website management 26,708 28,620 33,973 37,650
Analyst, consultant 31,874 37,143 38,916 40,184
Communications, writer, media 32,263 23,303 42,438 —
 
Total yearly pay package (ZAR)
Profession Under 10 10 to 100 101 to 1000 Over 1000
Management 379,598 464,891 543,097 616,954
Project management 364,312 450,428 503,570 552,802
Programming, software development 398,398 436,576 489,881 537,477
Database design and administration 398,543 430,824 515,542 525,239
Systems administration 319,021 340,183 396,903 456,335
Networks 318,188 339,320 378,881 452,896
Security 344,112 356,570 433,940 485,609
Design 324,714 374,126 448,671 475,842
Sales, marketing 307,339 366,542 563,035 590,797
Tech support (helpdesk, IT technician) 291,553 297,951 338,704 363,226
Education, training, research 354,761 372,248 450,091 436,421
Internet, e-commerce, website management 337,594 356,974 434,753 479,313
Analyst, consultant 404,590 475,162 504,915 521,473
Communications, writer, media 408,087 289,886 539,592 —