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South Africa might suffer from high levels of unemployment, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t jobs that offer lekker paydays.

Some of South Africa’s highest-paying jobs range from R24,000 to R213,000 per month, so at least some people are having a good time.

We’ll get to the big shots who earn the fine dough soon enough, but you should know that all in all, the salary environment in SA right now is slightly bleak.

The average formal, non-agricultural salary in South Africa declined 0.1% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) from Stats SA.

BusinessTech notes that the average salary paid was recorded at R26,791, down from the R26,894 recorded for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Although this represents a 4.6% increase year-on-year, this growth is still behind inflation for the same period, so salaries have declined in real terms.

Here are 10 of the highest-paying jobs in South Africa 2o24 according to Salaryexplorer.com, a salary comparison and career resources website for both employees and employers.

1. Surgeons – Average salaries: between R72,500 and 213,000 per month

2. Judges – Average salaries: between R42,800 and R148,000 per month

3. Lawyers – Average salaries: between R41,000 and R131,000 per month

4. Bank Managers – Average salaries: between R36,900 and R108,000 per month

5. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) – Average salaries: between R34,200 and R109,000 per month

6. Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) – Average salaries: between R33,900 and R108,000 per month

7. Orthodontists – Average salaries: between R30,900 and R107,000 per month

8. University professors – Average salaries: between R28,600 and R99,000 per month

9. Pilots – Average salaries: between R29,100 and R85,700 per month

10. Marketing Directors – Average salaries: between R24,200 and R77,200 per month

It should be noted that the salary range often has a positive correlation with experience.

If you’re not in one of these top-earning salary brackets, then you have three options: hit the books again and career pivot, move countries, or accept that you’re stunningly average. There’s something to it, take my word for it.

If not mine, William Martin might offer some consolation with his poem that says “Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives…Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.”

[source:businesstech]