Average Business Manager Salary in South Africa for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Business Manager salary for 2024 in South Africa and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the South African rand. To keep things simple, we are using the ZAR currency code instead of the currency symbol R.

How Much Does a Business Manager Make in South Africa?

A Business Manager working in South Africa will typically earn around 537,300 ZAR per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 246,500 ZAR to the highest average salary of 852,600 ZAR.

Average Annual Salary
537,300 ZAR
Average Monthly Salary
44,775 ZAR

Lowest Annual Salary
246,500 ZAR
Lowest Monthly Salary
20,541 ZAR

Highest Annual Salary
852,600 ZAR
Highest Monthly Salary
71,050 ZAR

These are average salaries for a Business Manager in South Africa and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Business Manager to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Business Manager salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Business Manager Salaries in South Africa

So we've looked at the average salaries a Business Manager will earn in South Africa. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Business Manager can earn between 246,500 ZAR and 852,600 ZAR on average in South Africa. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Business Manager in South Africa is 581,300 ZAR. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 581,300 ZAR, and 50% of the population earn more than 581,300 ZAR.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Business Manager salary in South Africa, 25% of the population are earning less than 371,100 ZAR while 75% of the population earn more than 371,100 ZAR.

75% of the population earn less than 772,900 ZAR, and 25% of the population earn more than 772,900 ZAR.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Business Manager Salary by Experience Level in South Africa

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average business manager salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Business Manager in South Africa that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 281,500 ZAR.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Business Manager salary would increase to 375,200 ZAR.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Business Manager, the average salary would be 553,800 ZAR.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 675,100 ZAR.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Business Manager with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 736,700 ZAR.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Business Manager with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 794,900 ZAR.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
281,500 ZAR
2-5 Years +34%
375,200 ZAR
5-10 Years +48%
553,800 ZAR
10-15 Years +22%
675,100 ZAR
15-20 Years +9%
736,700 ZAR
20+ Years +8%
794,900 ZAR

Business Manager Salary by Education Level in South Africa

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Business Manager in South Africa based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • High School. A Business Manager in South Africa with a high school education can earn an average salary of 345,100 ZAR.

  • Certificate or Diploma. A Business Manager in South Africa with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 406,300 ZAR.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Business Manager in South Africa with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 588,500 ZAR.

  • Master's Degree. A Business Manager in South Africa with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 767,500 ZAR.

Average Salary by Education Chart

High School
345,100 ZAR
Certificate or Diploma +18%
406,300 ZAR
Bachelor's Degree +45%
588,500 ZAR
Master's Degree +31%
767,500 ZAR

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in South Africa is around 156,000 to 467,000 ZAR and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Business Manager Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In South Africa, a male business manager will earn an average of 565,100 ZAR, while a female business manager will earn around 504,500 ZAR.

This means that a male business manager earns approximately 12% more than a female business manager for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in South Africa

Male
565,100 ZAR
Female -12%
504,500 ZAR

Business Manager Average Pay Raise in South Africa

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Business Manager in South Africa is around 13% every 17 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in South Africa is around 8% every 18 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 13 ÷ 17 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that a Business Manager in South Africa can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in South Africa for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in South Africa.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
3%
Energy
6%
Information Technology
9%
Healthcare
3%
Travel
6%
Construction
9%
Education
3%

Business Manager Bonus and Incentive Rates in South Africa

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Business Manager is a high bonus based job, with 84% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

16% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 5% to 9%.

Received Bonus
84%
No Bonus
16%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in South Africa earn approximately 7% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
386,400 ZAR
Private Sector -7%
361,500 ZAR

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Business Manager

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Business Manager in South Africa.

Job Title Category Salary
Assistant Business Development Manager Business Planning 513,300 ZAR
Assistant Merchandise Planner Business Planning 288,700 ZAR
Business Advisor Business Planning 480,300 ZAR
Business Analyst Business Planning 478,100 ZAR
Business Consultant Business Planning 466,300 ZAR
Business Continuity Associate Business Planning 294,300 ZAR
Business Developer Business Planning 315,900 ZAR
Business Development Analyst Business Planning 332,100 ZAR
Business Development Associate Business Planning 254,700 ZAR
Business Development Coordinator Business Planning 266,000 ZAR
Business Development Director Business Planning 650,800 ZAR
Business Development Engineer Business Planning 361,500 ZAR
Business Development Executive Business Planning 472,100 ZAR
Business Development Manager Business Planning 615,000 ZAR
Business Development Specialist Business Planning 471,700 ZAR
Business Operations Specialist Business Planning 437,900 ZAR
Business Process Writer Business Planning 275,500 ZAR
Business Systems Analyst Business Planning 475,700 ZAR
Capacity Planner Business Planning 332,100 ZAR
Capacity Planning Supervisor Business Planning 447,300 ZAR
Change Communications Analyst Business Planning 453,200 ZAR
Change Control Analyst Business Planning 462,300 ZAR
Change Impact Analyst Business Planning 467,100 ZAR
Contracts Executive Business Planning 459,300 ZAR
Corporate Strategy Analyst Business Planning 483,800 ZAR
Cost Control Engineer Business Planning 311,700 ZAR
Cost Controller Business Planning 351,200 ZAR
Cost Estimator Business Planning 315,700 ZAR
Data Executive Business Planning 263,100 ZAR
Data Manager Business Planning 362,200 ZAR
Data Processing Manager Business Planning 414,000 ZAR
Development Researcher Business Planning 377,200 ZAR
Director of Business Development Business Planning 684,900 ZAR
Director of Production Planning Business Planning 585,900 ZAR
Due Diligence Analyst Business Planning 531,700 ZAR
Estimating Manager Business Planning 514,300 ZAR
General Manager Business Planning 559,000 ZAR
Incident Handler Business Planning 327,800 ZAR
Incident Specialist Business Planning 401,300 ZAR
Lean Consultant Business Planning 348,300 ZAR
Manager Business Planning 650,800 ZAR
Marketing and Business Development Manager Business Planning 595,300 ZAR
Materials Planner Business Planning 207,700 ZAR
Merchandise Assistant Business Planning 197,600 ZAR
Merchandise Controller Business Planning 197,600 ZAR
Merchandise Planner Business Planning 207,700 ZAR
Operations Analyst Business Planning 420,100 ZAR
Operations Manager Business Planning 516,100 ZAR
Operations Research Analyst Business Planning 296,000 ZAR
Planning and Reporting Manager Business Planning 514,300 ZAR
Planning Director Business Planning 619,800 ZAR
Project Administrator Business Planning 294,700 ZAR
Project Manager Business Planning 492,400 ZAR
Project Planner Business Planning 301,300 ZAR
Research Assistant Business Planning 263,200 ZAR
Research Engineer Business Planning 294,700 ZAR
Research Officer Business Planning 231,000 ZAR
Risk Management Specialist Business Planning 460,500 ZAR
Scholarship Coordinator Business Planning 249,600 ZAR
Store Planner Business Planning 239,000 ZAR
Strategy Director Business Planning 652,200 ZAR
Top Research and Development Executive Business Planning 702,800 ZAR

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in South Africa, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Bloemfontein 492,700 ZAR
Cape Town 615,700 ZAR
Durban 592,600 ZAR
Johannesburg 573,500 ZAR
Port Elizabeth 552,400 ZAR
Pretoria 565,100 ZAR

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