A football agent has revealed that some players in the Betway Premiership earn as little as R4,000 a month, while the biggest contracts she has negotiated have reached nearly R800,000.
Karabo Mathang-Tshabuse, who represents a number of Betway Premiership players, disclosed the figures during an appearance on Sports Night Amplified with Andile Ncube on Metro FM.
Asked whether players in South Africa’s top division still earn less than R10,000 per month, Mathang-Tshabuse confirmed that this remains the case for some footballers.
She said she had seen a contract worth R4,000 as recently as the previous month, and questioned whether players on such salaries should be regarded as professionals.
“Absolutely they are. Absolutely they are,” Mathang-Tshabuse said on Metro FM.
“As recently as last month, I saw a contract for R4,000. And the worrying thing, Andile, is that they want to call that a professional player.”
The comments point to a significant financial gap within the Betway Premiership. While some players receive salaries comparable with those earned by leading professionals, others remain on modest contracts despite playing in the country’s premier division.
Mathang-Tshabuse was also asked about the opposite end of the salary scale and whether players in the Betway Premiership had earned R500,000 or more per month.
“Absolutely, yes,” she replied.
She said some of the largest deals she had worked on were worth close to R800,000 per month. However, Mathang-Tshabuse clarified that those contracts were agreed before the COVID-19 pandemic, when clubs were operating in different financial circumstances.
Her current clients include players at Betway Premiership clubs Sekhukhune United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs.
At Sekhukhune United, she represents Vuyo Letlapa, Lehlohonolo Mojela, Bright Ndlovu, Thabang Mahlangu and Malekgene Mampuru.
Monnapule Saleng and Cassius Mailula are among her clients at Mamelodi Sundowns, while she also represents Thabo Moloisane and Takalani Mazhamba at Kaizer Chiefs.
Mathang-Tshabuse’s client list also includes Yusuf Maart, who plays for SV Ried.
The figures underline the wide disparity in earnings across professional South African football. Players competing in the same top-flight competition can be operating under vastly different financial conditions, with some earning less than R10,000 a month and others having secured contracts worth hundreds of thousands of rand.
The revelations have prompted discussion about what constitutes a professional playing contract and whether current salaries adequately reflect the demands placed on footballers in the Betway Premiership.
Readers were invited to share their views on the information about player salaries through the publication’s comments section.
The South African is also running a Winter Reader Survey, with a R5,000 prize available to one participant.
