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Developers and Programmers Average Salaries in South Africa 2024

How much money does a person working in Developers and Programmers make in South Africa?


Average Monthly Salary
30,000 ZAR
( 360,000 ZAR yearly)

LOW
22,200
ZAR
AVERAGE
30,000
ZAR
HIGH
39,400
ZAR
All salary figures displayed here are per month except when noted otherwise.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.

A person working in Developers and Programmers in South Africa typically earns around 30,000 ZAR. Salaries range from 22,200 ZAR (lowest average) to 39,400 ZAR (highest average, actual maximum salary is higher).


Salary Variance

The provided figure represents the median compensation that encompasses housing, transportation, and other perks. The salaries within the Developers and Programmers domain in South Africa exhibit significant discrepancies across various professions. In case you seek information about the remuneration of a specific position, please refer to the salaries listed below for respective job titles.

Salaries for specific jobs

Job TitleAverage Salary
Information Technology
ABAP Developer27,700 ZAR
Android Developer32,300 ZAR
Angular Developer29,600 ZAR
Angular JS Programmer29,200 ZAR
Application Developer31,900 ZAR
AS400 Programmer33,400 ZAR
Assembly Developer34,600 ZAR
Avaloq Developer30,100 ZAR
Back End Developer30,500 ZAR
BizTalk Developer 34,200 ZAR
Build and Release Engineer30,000 ZAR
Business Intelligence Developer32,500 ZAR
Business Objects Developer28,300 ZAR
C Developer35,600 ZAR
C# Developer34,900 ZAR
C++ Developer35,200 ZAR
Chatbot Developer29,800 ZAR
Clojure Developer37,300 ZAR
CMS Developer25,500 ZAR
Computer Programmer30,600 ZAR
Curam Developer26,900 ZAR
Dart Developer24,400 ZAR
Delphi Developer32,100 ZAR
Developer / Programmer32,700 ZAR
Developer Evangelist30,600 ZAR
DevOps Engineer30,400 ZAR
Django Specialist30,400 ZAR
Driver Developer34,500 ZAR
Elixir Developer38,700 ZAR
Embedded Software Developer34,500 ZAR
Erlang Developer39,400 ZAR
Flash Developer28,100 ZAR
Front End Developer27,900 ZAR
Front End Web Developer27,400 ZAR
Full Stack Developer32,900 ZAR
Game Developer29,600 ZAR
GIS Developer32,000 ZAR
Go Developer37,600 ZAR
Graphical User Interface ( GUI ) Programmer28,600 ZAR
Graphics Programmer29,000 ZAR
Groovy Developer34,400 ZAR
Haskell Developer32,800 ZAR
Imaging Programmer28,600 ZAR
Information Systems Developer28,200 ZAR
IOS Developer34,200 ZAR
Java Developer35,400 ZAR
Javascript Developer31,800 ZAR
jQuery Specialist29,800 ZAR
Kotlin Developer34,200 ZAR
Laravel Specialist28,500 ZAR
Lead Developer35,100 ZAR
Lisp Developer39,600 ZAR
Lua Developer36,200 ZAR
MATLAB Developer33,400 ZAR
Mobile Developer30,800 ZAR
Multimedia Developer28,700 ZAR
NextJs Specialist31,400 ZAR
Nodejs Developer32,800 ZAR
Objective-C Developer38,500 ZAR
Oracle Developer32,400 ZAR
Perl Developer27,800 ZAR
PHP Developer29,100 ZAR
PowerShell Developer30,200 ZAR
Python Developer33,900 ZAR
R Language Developer34,300 ZAR
React Specialist32,700 ZAR
Remedy Developer24,800 ZAR
Robotic Process Automation Developer25,800 ZAR
Ruby Developer28,600 ZAR
Rust Developer37,800 ZAR
Salesforce Developer25,800 ZAR
SAS Programmer29,600 ZAR
Scala Developer39,800 ZAR
Sharepoint Developer32,100 ZAR
Software Developer31,600 ZAR
Software Development Manager39,500 ZAR
Software QA Engineer27,500 ZAR
Software Test Engineer26,000 ZAR
Swift Developer36,600 ZAR
Teradata Developer26,200 ZAR
TIBCO Developer27,500 ZAR
TypeScript Developer35,600 ZAR
UI Engineer28,900 ZAR
User Experience Designer27,100 ZAR
VB Developer25,400 ZAR
VB.NET Developer33,500 ZAR
Visual Basic Developer23,600 ZAR
VueJs Specialist30,500 ZAR
WordPress Specialist31,400 ZAR
Zig Developer41,400 ZAR


Developers and Programmers Jobs Pay Scale and Salaries in South Africa

Median and salary distribution South Africa Developers and Programmers monthly
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Salary Structure and Pay Scale Comparison

5% of people earn
30,300 ZAR or more
10% of people earn
28,500 to 30,300 ZAR
20% of people earn
24,600 ZAR or less
65% of people earn
24,600 to 28,500 ZAR
Minimum Salary
22,200 ZAR
Median
30,000 ZAR
Maximum
39,400 ZAR




Median Salary, maximum and minimum salary, minimum wage, starting salary, and the salary range

All salary figures displayed here are per month except when noted otherwise.
  • Salary Range, Minimum Wage, and Starting Salary

    Salaries in Developers and Programmers in South Africa range from 22,200 ZAR (starting average salary) to 39,400 ZAR (maximum average salary, actual maximum is higher). To clarify, the number presented is not the legally mandated minimum wage. Rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that involved thousands of participants and professionals from across the entire country.

  • Median Salary

    The median income in the field of Developers and Programmers is 30,000 ZAR, implying that half of the workforce in South Africa earns less than this figure, and the other half earns more. It represents the central value of salaries. As a rule of thumb, you would prefer to be part of the group earning above the median wage, situated on the right-hand side of the salary distribution chart.

  • Percentiles and Salary Scale

    Two values that are highly correlated with the median are the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution diagram, it is possible to determine that 25% of individuals employed in Developers and Programmers in South Africa earn less than 27,300 ZAR, while 75% of them earn more. Additionally, the diagram reveals that 75% of individuals earn less than 32,200 ZAR, while 25% earn more than that.

  • Pay Scale Structure

    Data was regrouped into brackets to provide a better understanding of what salaries can be expected. This approach was deemed more accurate than relying solely on the average salary, as it offers greater insights into the distribution of salaries in the field of Developers and Programmers in South Africa. The analysis revealed that roughly 65% of all reported salaries fell within the range of 24,600 ZAR to 28,500 ZAR. Approximately 20% of salaries were below the 24,600 ZAR mark, while 10% ranged from 28,500 ZAR to 30,300 ZAR. Only 5% of individuals earned a gross salary of 30,300 ZAR or higher.

Salary Comparison by Years of Experience

How does a person's salary progress over time?

Salary Comparison By Experience Level
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The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage.

Generally speaking, employees in Developers and Programmers in South Africa having experience from two to five years earn on average 32% more than freshers and juniors across all industries and disciplines.

Professionals with experience of more than five years tend to earn on average 36% more than those with five years or less of work experience.

As you hit the ten years mark, the salary increases by 21% and an additional 14% for those who have crossed the 15 years mark.

Those figures are presented as guidelines only. The numbers become more significant if you consider one job title at a time.


Change in salary based on experience varies drastically from one location to another and depends hugely on the career field as well. The data displayed here is the combined average of many different jobs. To view accurate figures, choose a specific job title.
On average, a person's salary doubles their starting salary by the time they cross the 10 years* experience mark.
* Based on the average change in salary over time. Salary variations differ from person to person.


Salary and Compensation Comparison By Gender / Developers and Programmers / South Africa

Salary comparison by gender South Africa Developers and Programmers monthly
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Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? In the field of Developers and Programmers in South Africa, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 12%.

Male
31,700 ZAR
Female-11%
28,400 ZAR
Percentage increase and decrease are relative to the previous value

Salary Comparison By Gender in South Africa for all Careers

Salary comparison by gender monthly South Africa
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Average Annual Salary Increment Percentage / Developers and Programmers / South Africa

How much are annual salary increments in South Africa for individuals working in Developers and Programmers? How often do employees get salary raises?

Professionals working in Developers and Programmers in South Africa are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 9% every 19 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 8% granted to employees every 18 months.

Annual Salary Increment Rate South Africa Developers and Programmers
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The figures provided here are averages of numbers. Those figures should be taken as general guidelines. Salary increments will vary from person to person and depend on many factors, but your performance and contribution to the success of the organization remain the most important factors in determining how much and how often you will be granted a raise.

South Africa / All Professions

Annual Salary Increment Rate South Africa
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The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.

How to calculate the salary increment percentage?

The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency

The average salary increase in one year (12 months) in South Africa is 5%.

Worldwide Salary Raises: All Countries and All Jobs

World Average Annual Salary Increment
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Salary Packages and Schemes

Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.

Bonus and Incentive Rates / Developers and Programmers / South Africa

How much and how often are bonuses being awarded?Annual Salary Bonus Rate South Africa Developers and Programmers
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44% of surveyed staff in Developers and Programmers reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 56% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.

Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 2% to 7% of their annual salary.

Received Bonus
56%
No Bonus
44%

Types of Bonuses Considered

Individual Performance-Based Bonuses

The most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.

Company Performance Bonuses

Occasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.

Goal-Based Bonuses

Granted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.

Holiday / End of Year Bonuses

These types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.

Bonuses Are Not Commissions!

People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.


What makes a position worthy of good bonuses and a high salary?

The main two types of jobs

Revenue GeneratorsSupporting Cast

Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business.

Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations.

Example:
A graphics designer working for a graphics designing company.

Example:
A graphic designer in the marketing department of a hospital.


Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.

Try to work for companies where your skills can generate revenue. We can't all generate revenue and that's perfectly fine.

Bonus Comparison by Seniority Level

Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.

Hourly Average Wage / Developers and Programmers / South Africa


170 ZAR per hour

The average hourly wage (pay per hour) in Developers and Programmers in South Africa is 170 ZAR.This is the rate they get paid for every worked hour.


Hourly Wage = Annual Salary / ( 52 x 5 x 8 )

About The Hourly Pay Rate

The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.

What is the minimum hourly rate of pay?

The minimum pay rate per hour for people working in Developers and Programmers in South Africa is 130 ZAR. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.

Salary Comparison By City

CityAverage Salary
Bloemfontein29,200 ZAR
Cape Town35,000 ZAR
Durban33,400 ZAR
Johannesburg32,200 ZAR
Port Elizabeth30,300 ZAR
Pretoria31,600 ZAR

Government vs Private Sector Salary Comparison

Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in South Africa is 7% on average across all career fields.

Private Sector
30,400 ZAR
Public Sector+7%
32,400 ZAR
Percentage increase and decrease are relative to the previous value

Salary Statistics and Calculation Guide

What is considered to be a good and competitive salary in Developers and Programmers in South Africa?

A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 30,000 ZAR and 32,200 ZAR. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.

Gross Salary (before tax) and Net Salary (after tax)

All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.

Base / Basic Salary

The base salary for jobs in Developers and Programmers in South Africa ranges from 22,200 ZAR to 27,300 ZAR. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.


What is the difference between the median and the average salary?

Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary


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