News24 | Shoprite CEO pay jumps to R118m, with half of workers earning less than R7 700 a month

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht’s total earned remuneration package in 2026 was R118 million, just over R30 million more than the R87 million he received last year. The actual pay he took home was 1 100 times more than that of the lowest-paid employee in the group.

Supplied/Shoprite

• Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht’s total earned remuneration rose by more than R30 million to R118 million in the financial year 2026.
• The amount he actually took home was R73 million, which was more than 1 100 times higher than the R64 000 earned by the group’s lowest-paid employee.
• Shoprite is hosting a pre-AGM shareholder engagement on 22 October, ahead of binding remuneration votes at its 6 November AGM under new Companies Act rules.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business. 

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht’s total earned remuneration package in 2025/26 was R118 million, just over R30 million more than the R87 million he received last year.

Engelbrecht’s pay package included short-term incentives and deferred incentives (including shares) payable over the next few years, the group’s latest remuneration report, released on Friday, showed.

The report also showed the average annual pay at Shoprite was R151 000 and the median pay was R93 000, meaning half of its employees earned more than R7 750 a month and half earned less in the 2026 financial year.

Shoprite and other public companies (listed, unlisted, and state-owned enterprises) now have to disclose the difference between their highest-paid and lowest-paid employees, in line with amendments to Section 30 of the Companies Act.

Engelbrecht was Shoprite’s highest earner, with the company comparing the R73 million he actually took home during the reporting period (excluding incentives to be paid in tranches over three years) with the R64 000 (R5 333.33 per month) paid to the lowest earner.

Shoprite’s lowest salary is close to South Africa’s minimum wage for a 40-hour work week (around R5 300 a month).

Engelbrecht’s R73 million was more than 1 100 times higher than what the lowest-paid Shoprite worker earned.

His total guaranteed salary was R22.02 million, compared with the previous year’s total guaranteed pay of R20.97 million.

His deferred earned remuneration included R17 million in incentives for meeting targets, which will only be paid in September 2028.

A further R36.4 million incentive – for the group achieving three-year performance targets set in the financial year 2023, to be achieved by June 2026 – will be paid out over three tranches in October 2026, October 2027 and October 2028.

The group’s core local supermarkets business, which accounts for nearly 85% of group sales, grew its sales of merchandise by 7% to R228.7 billion. The strong results allowed Shoprite to hike its full-year dividend by nearly 12% to 873c.

Executive pay has increasingly become a lightning rod issue in South Africa, given the high levels of poverty, with shareholders of publicly listed companies regularly pushing back on non-binding votes on remuneration policies and their implementation.

Until recently, companies have engaged with dissenting shareholders if they failed to secure the 75% threshold, even though these votes were not binding.

Under the new sections of the Companies Act, votes on both remuneration policies and their implementation are now binding, with a vote in favour of more than 50% required to pass them.

Shoprite’s AGM takes place on 6 November, and the group appears to be taking a pre-emptive approach to any issues that may arise around its remuneration policies or implementation reports.

On Friday, the group said it would be hosting a shareholder engagement session on 22 October to “facilitate constructive dialogue between our nonexecutive directors and shareholders”, with the focus being on the “ordinary resolutions related to the remuneration policy and its implementation” due to be presented at the AGM for approval.