A letter from a retiree highlights the growing divide in South Africa’s banking sector, where top executives’ lavish rewards contrast sharply with stagnating deposit rates for ordinary customers, sparking public concern over wealth distribution.
In a letter to The Witness, A L Norman of Howick gave voice to a frustration shared by many retirees: the sense that loyal depositors are being asked to accept ever-thinner returns while banks reward their senior management handsomely. Norman said a short-term investment rate had been cut to 1.35% a year, a move he framed as especially hard to swallow for older customers who want easy access to their savings.
That complaint lands in the middle of a wider debate over banking pay in South Africa. According to Business Day and The Citizen, Standard Bank chief executive Sim Tshabalala received a package worth R106 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. Moneyweb reported that the bank’s eight highest-paid executives together took home R511 million in 2025, with Tshabalala’s pay topping R100 million and former executive Kenny Fihla collecting more than R148 million during his time there before moving to Absa.
The scale of those rewards has sharpened attention on how banks distribute the gains from a strong business year. The Citizen reported that Capitec’s top three earners, including former chief executive Gerrie Fourie, shared nearly R250 million in remuneration for the 2026 financial year, helped by robust customer growth and a 25% rise in profit. At the same time, another Citizen report noted that minimum monthly pay at Standard Bank and Absa has been lifted to above R21,000, while Investec still offers the highest entry-level pay among major banks.
For customers like Norman, however, those figures may only deepen the feeling that ordinary savers are subsidising a system tilted towards the top. His letter captures a familiar generational grievance: the bank relationship that once felt personal now often feels anonymous, and the rewards appear to flow upwards even as deposit rates remain stubbornly low.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
