The University of Cape Town maintains remuneration levels that exceed South Africa’s minimum wage and meet or surpass nationally recognised poverty-line and living-wage benchmarks. UCT’s published salary structure shows that the lowest payclass (Payclass 1) carries a minimum annual cost of employment of ZAR148,594, equating to approximately ZAR12,380 per month. Even at the lowest point on the scale, this entry-level remuneration significantly exceeds the 2024 national minimum wage, which is equivalent to roughly ZAR5,400 per month for a standard full-time week. UCT’s lowest salary band therefore pays more than double the statutory minimum, demonstrating a structural commitment to fair and above-minimum remuneration for all permanent employees.

Benchmarking UCT’s lowest pay scale against recognised poverty and living-wage indicators further reinforces this assessment. Research by SALDRU (the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, part of UCT) and Statistics South Africa identifies three official poverty lines: the upper-bound poverty line (UBPL), currently around ZAR1,634 per person per month, which equates to ZAR6,536 for a family of four; the lower-bound poverty line; and the food poverty line. SALDRU’s extensive analysis shows that a living wage must exceed the UBPL to enable a household to meet essential needs independently and consistently.

UCT’s lowest full-time remuneration level—approximately ZAR12,380 per month—sits well above the UBPL for a household of four and aligns with the range SALDRU identifies as necessary for a wage to support a dignified standard of living. UCT therefore demonstrably remunerates even its lowest-paid permanent employees at levels that exceed both the official poverty lines and common living-wage thresholds as derived from SALDRU’s national research.

The consistent alignment of its minimum remuneration levels typically above living-wage and poverty-line indicators reflects a clear in-principle and operational commitment to living wages. This commitment is further supported by UCT’s long-standing use of a “cost of employment” (CoE) system, which includes not only base salary but also institutional contributions to employee benefits, further increasing the real value of remuneration above poverty-line and living-wage benchmarks.

Taken together, this evidence demonstrates that UCT’s remuneration framework meaningfully exceeds national wage and poverty thresholds and embodies an institutional commitment to ensuring that all permanent staff earn above a living-wage standard.