The average pension of a South African pensioner whose monthly income is deposited in a bank account is R5 702. But the median (the mid point between the highest and lowest pension) pension is only R3 787 a month.
In its latest Private Pension Index, bank payments clearing house BankservAfrica says the average pension payment to the 625 000 pensioners whose payments it processes increased by an average of 10 percent in April.
The BankservAfrica Private Pensions Index (BPPI) gauges monthly private pension payments into the bank accounts of people aged 60 or over. The BPPI captures more than 80 percent of the pension payments in South Africa.
The average pension reached 48.7 percent of the average disposable (after-tax) salary – the highest since BankservAfrica started compiling the data in June 2012.
Pensioners have benefited from an average pension increase above the rate of inflation for the past nine months, BankservAfrica says.
It says that, with inflation likely to remain below six percent for much of the year, positive, real (after-inflation) increases are expected for another three to four months.