Mail & Guardian reporter
South African executives are notoriously reticent about earnings – something that is likely to change as globalisation exposes companies to business environments demanding more transparency. However, the latest survey by FSA-Contact provided a peek at other aspects of the rarefied world of top South African business.
More than 98% of CEOs surveyed were male, 95% were white and more than a third were foreigners. Twenty-nine per cent were born in Gauteng.
In the second tier of executives, figures were slightly more encouraging. About a quarter are female, and 87% white. Women appear to be doing best in human resources and marketing, where they make up 37% and 62% of executives respectively.
The survey confirmed another cliche: 65% of top executives surveyed play golf, with a little more than half taking out their frustrations on the squash court.
Incentive pay is increasingly common. Typically a CEO receives a bonus of 20% of their cash salary. This is higher than similar executives in Singapore, Germany and France, but less than Australia and Canada.
In the United States, top CEOs earn bonuses of more than 40% of their total salary. According to FSA-Contact, there is also a trend towards longer-term stock option bonuses.