Billionaire Patrice Motsepe pockets R28m for nearly eight months on the job

Billionaire Patrice Motsepe earned more than R28 million in total remuneration in the 2026 financial year as executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (Arm), a role he left on 15 February 2026 to become the company’s non-executive chairman. The lowest-paid employee at the mining giant received R129 329 for the full financial year.

Arm is a diversified mining group with interests in iron ore, manganese, chrome, platinum group metals, nickel and coal. Motsepe founded it in 2004.

According to the mine’s 2026 integrated annual report, Arm’s headline earnings rose 19% to R3.2 billion, mainly due to higher US dollar PGM basket prices, despite a challenging operational environment and volatile commodity prices.

Motsepe becomes less involved in Arm

According to the report released earlier in the week, the executive chairman had overall responsibility for the company’s performance, and his personal performance was therefore not determined separately from the company’s.

“The bonus was paid for the period 1 July 2025 to 15 February 2026 at which time he was eligible to participate in the scheme, prior to becoming non-executive chairman on 16 February 2026,” the report read.

An executive chairman is an active employee involved in the company’s daily management and operations, whereas a non-executive chairman is an independent board member with no operational duties or daily management responsibilities.

Motsepe’s payday

The R28 million Motsepe received for nearly eight months in the 2026 financial year includes short- and long-term incentives. He received R6.7 million before incentives, a short-term incentive of R9 million (cash bonus), and a long-term incentive of R12.7 million.

According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, Motsepe was the world’s 1 233rd-richest person on Thursday. The list tracks real-time net worth. His net worth on the day was $3.4 billion (approximately R56.5 billion).

In South Africa, this figure makes him the fourth-richest person in the country. Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list features eight South Africans, led by John Ruppert, followed by Nicky Oppenheimer, Michiel Le Roux, Motsepe, Koos Bekker, Jannie Mouton, Christoffel Wiese, and Paul Van Zuydam.

CEO payday

According to Arm’s report, its CEO, Phillip Tobias, earned more than R27 million for the full 2026 financial year.

“The CEO has overall responsibility for the performance of the company, and his personal performance for the period under review was not determined separately from that of the company,” the report read.

Tobias received a fixed salary of R10.3 million, a short-term incentive of R11.1 million (cash bonus), and a long-term incentive of R6.6 million. The company did not specify whether the long-term incentive was paid in shares.

R6bn on employees

According to the report, Arm spent R6 billion on employee salaries, down from R6.2 billion in 2025. The mining group employs 20 282 people.

Since May 2026, the Companies Amendment Act of 2024 requires public and state-owned companies to disclose the remuneration gap between their top 5% highest-paid and bottom 5% lowest-paid employees in annual reports.

Arm’s 2026 remuneration report revealed that the lowest-paid employee within the group earned R129 329, the average total remuneration was R868 843, and the median total remuneration was R647 944.

The report listed the highest-paid employee as having received R21.9 million. This is despite Motsepe and Tobias earning more.

“These amounts differ from the total earned remuneration disclosed elsewhere because the cash (payroll) basis differs from the accrual basis,” the report read.

Zero deaths

The mining giant celebrated having zero fatalities during the 2026 financial year. Its financial year runs from 1 July till the end of June of the following year.

“The group recorded zero fatalities in financial year 2026, a significant safety milestone, with the last fatality-free year recorded in financial year 2017,” the report read.

Arm recorded three fatalities in financial year 2025.