The average salary at Eskom increased from R72,133 in 1994 to R1.165 million in 2026

The average annual salary of an Eskom employee has increased from R72,133 in 1994 to R1.165 million in 2026.

This was revealed by Eskom’s annual reports over the last 32 years, which showed a rapid increase in employee costs in recent years.

In 1994, Eskom was a well-run power utility which provided reliable and affordable electricity to South Africa.

Productivity improved from 1.7 GWh sold per employee in 1985 to 2.7 GWh per employee in 1995.

Eskom’s strong performance continued, and it was named Global Power Company of the Year at the Financial Times Global Energy Awards in 2001.

What was striking is that Eskom’s headcount during this period declined, from 39,760 in 1994 to 31,548 in 2006.

However, over the next eight years, Eskom went on a recruitment drive which saw its employee numbers swell from 31,548 to 46,919.

MyBroadband previously reported that this aggressive recruitment drive was aimed at meeting Affirmative Action targets.

Eskom faced pressure from the government to meet demographics targets in all departments, with a strong focus on black females.

To meet these targets, Eskom would employ thousands of people based on their race and gender instead of their skills.

Although the ‘gender and race’ recruitment drive slowed after 2014, the company’s employee numbers continued to rise.

By 2018, Eskom had 48,628 employees, the highest in history. What followed was not an improved performance, but the worst load shedding South Africa has ever seen.

Under former CEO Andre de Ruyter, Eskom cut its employee numbers to 39,601. However, this was short-lived.

Under the new Eskom board, headed by chairman Mteto Nyati, Eskom’s staff numbers started to increase again.

By the end of the 2026 financial year, Eskom had 43,274 employees. This is the highest in five years.

However, this is only part of the story. The average salary at Eskom has increased rapidly over the last few years due to large increases and bonuses.

Nyati explained that prior management had implemented a five-year salary freeze and suspended all performance-based incentives.

He said it was unfair and deeply demotivating because it penalised all staff, even those performing well or working on critical maintenance.

The new Eskom board reversed this decision and implemented salary increases, reinstated performance incentives, and brought back production bonuses.

This saw Eskom’s salary bill increase from R32.3 billion in 2023 to R50.4 billion in 2026, the biggest increase in the power utility’s history.

It also resulted in Eskom’s average salary package increasing from R816,000 to R1.165 million over three years.

The chart below shows Eskom’s average salary from 1994 to 2026, based on data from the company’s ann