Cape Town best SA city for IT jobs

All cities are not created equal for IT managers in South Africa. The highest salaries are earned by those in Cape Town, and the lowest in Durban, according to a new study. For all job categories, Pretoria is the top paying South African city, followed by Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. And South African men typically earn 41% more than South African women.

Pretoria is the best-paid city in South Africa, earning 7% more than the national average salary, according to salary data drawn from the JobCrystal candidate database. The Johannesburg average salary is 4% more than the national average of R 19,273, while Cape Town comes in at 5% below the average.

In specific job categories, like IT, the picture changes. Here, Cape Town is the best-paid city in South Africa for IT managers, with the average salary being R31, 190. The Johannesburg average salary is R27,788, with Durban trailing far behind at R17,384.

In addition, on average, South African men earn 41% more than their female counterparts and this gap is particularly prevalent in senior executive positions. White men are still the highest earners, taking home 116% more than black women, the lowest earners in the country, according to JobCrystal, the interactive talent management portal. It is important to note, however, that these figures vary according to job and education level.

Asian employees typically earn 9% less than their white counterparts, with black employees earning 28% less, and coloured employees 29% less than their white colleagues. These figures also vary when the data is broken down according to education and job level.

The gender salary gap is the largest amongst white employees registered on JobCrystal, with white men earning 53% more than white women. It’s the narrowest amongst black candidates on the JobCrystal database with black men earning 17% more than black women.

‚Looking at the JobCrystal data, it appears that South Africa still has a way to go before achieving pay parity according to gender and ethnicity. However, it does appear that the so-called ‚Cape Town tax’ ‚ where candidates in Cape Town are paid less than those in Gauteng, ostensibly due to the better lifestyle ‚ is showing signs of narrowing,‚ said Kevin Laithwaite, managing director of JobCrystal. ‚Drilling down to specific job functions, candidates with skills in high demand, such as IT skills, are being rewarded with higher salaries wherever they are in the country.‚