South Africa’s highest-paid technology bosses shared a combined R1.38 billion in 2025, a year in which a handful of major companies helped lift sentiment on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange after a difficult run. The figures, drawn from an ITWeb assessment of pay across the five biggest tech firms excluding telecoms, show how a rebound in earnings at companies such as Naspers, Karooooo and Datatec translated into heavy remuneration for their chief executives.
These firms together make up more than R1 trillion in market value, a meaningful slice of the roughly 435 companies listed on the exchange. ITWeb’s review covered cash salaries, short-term bonuses and benefits already paid out, without counting long-term incentives that vest in future years.
At Naspers and its international arm, Prosus, chief executive Fabrício Bloisi earned about R10.8 million in cash. Though modest by global standards, it sits beside long-term awards worth roughly R914 million that reflect the group’s sharp turnaround from an operating loss in 2024 to a profit in 2025, with net income more than doubling.
Karooooo founder Zak Calisto recorded the largest headline haul after selling 1.5 million shares in June, pocketing around R1.27 billion in gross proceeds. Including dividends, analysts estimate his total take for the year at about R1.64 billion, though his salary details remain undisclosed in the company’s U.S. filings.
Datatec’s chief, Jens Montanana, received about R78.7 million in total cash compensation even as group revenue slipped nearly 9 percent on weaker demand and currency pressures. The business still managed to lift net profit thanks to lower restructuring charges, fair-value gains and firmer margins. At Bytes Technology Group, newly-appointed chief executive Sam Mudd was paid £978,000, with the company reporting steady revenue growth and a double-digit rise in operating profit despite the share price lagging under the shadow of past governance issues.
The payouts underline how a handful of tech names, many with global footprints, continue to dominate the sector’s performance on the JSE and shape the overall mood of investors on the continent’s most sophisticated exchange.
