UPDATE | Vodacom joins banks' executives in donating salaries to Solidarity Fund

Vodacom has announced that its CEO, Shameel Joosub, will donate a third of his salary for the next three months to the Solidarity Fund.

The mobile operator joins an increasing number of JSE-listed companies who have announced over the weekend that some of their executives will take pay cuts and contribute portions of their salaries to the fund.

This after President Cyril Ramaphosa's call on corporations and other public individuals to follow in the footsteps of national executive members to donate part of their salaries to the fund.

Ramaphosa and his Cabinet members will be donating a third of their salaries for the next three months.

Joosub said he believed this was not only the right thing to do, but was crucial to help in South Africa's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Vodacom joins banks - including Nedbank, FirstRand and Standard Bank - whose executives have also heeded the president's call and pledged to donate towards efforts aimed at combating the spread of the virus in South Africa.

On Sunday, Standard Bank announced its top South Africa-based executives would make their own contributions to the fund which was set up early in March to support vulnerable South Africans by providing care for ill individuals and buying protective gear for medical personnel, among other things. 

However, unlike other companies where executives have committed to forgo a fixed portion of their salaries, Standard Bank said it would set up a mechanism to enable its executives to make donations of their own volition to the fund and any other initiatives in support of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Its chief executive, Lungisa Fuzile, said the bank believed contributions should be made on a voluntary basis and with accommodation for confidentiality where preferred. The bank said such donations would be made over the next three months.

Nedbank, which was the first to heed Ramaphosa's call on Friday, said CEO Mike Brown would also be donating a third of his salary to the fund for three months. He encouraged other executives in the bank to follow suit.

FirstRand announced on Saturday that its CEO, COO, CFO and the CEOs of its largest businesses - FNB, RMB and WesBank - would forego 30% of their salaries for three months.

Old Mutual announced executive pay cuts to contribute to the fund on Wednesday, a day ahead of Ramphosa's call.

Outside of the business community, a number of institutions and individuals - including the EFF, IFP and Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina - have also pledged to donate a portion of their salaries to the fund for at least three months.

Compiled by Londiwe Buthelezi

The story has been updated to include Vodacom's announcement.