The average yearly pay of an Eskom worker has grown from R72,133 in 1994 to R1.165 million in 2026. The figures come from the power utility’s annual reports over the past 32 years.
The reports show that the cost of paying staff has risen quickly in recent years. Eskom’s salary bill went from R32.3 billion in 2023 to R50.4 billion in 2026. This was the biggest jump in the company’s history.
Over the same three years, the average salary package at Eskom rose from R816,000 to R1.165 million.
Eskom board chairman Mteto Nyati said the former management had put in place a five-year salary freeze. He said they had also stopped all incentives linked to performance.
Nyati said this was unfair and very demotivating. He said it punished all workers, even those who performed well or worked on urgent maintenance.
The new board reversed the freeze. It brought in salary increases, restored performance incentives and returned production bonuses to staff.
Staff numbers have also moved up again. By the end of the 2026 financial year, Eskom had 43,274 employees, the highest number in five years.
Under former chief executive Andre de Ruyter, the company had cut its workforce to 39,601 people. That drop did not last once the new board took over.
In 1994, Eskom was a well run utility that supplied reliable and affordable power to South Africa. Its output per worker grew from 1.7 GWh sold in 1985 to 2.7 GWh in 1995.
In 2001, Eskom was named Global Power Company of the Year at the Financial Times Global Energy Awards.
During that period the number of workers went down. Eskom had 39,760 employees in 1994 and 31,548 in 2006.
Over the next eight years, the company hired heavily. Its staff count grew from 31,548 to 46,919.
MyBroadband previously reported that this hiring drive aimed to meet Affirmative Action targets. According to the report, Eskom faced government pressure to meet demographic targets in all departments.
The report said there was a strong focus on hiring black women. It said thousands of people were employed based on race and gender rather than skills.
Hiring slowed after 2014, but staff numbers kept rising. By 2018, Eskom had 48,628 employees, the most in its history.
The years that followed brought the worst load shedding South Africa has ever experienced, according to the report.
Source: this article is based on reporting by newsday.co.za. Image: newsday.co.za. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.