“Go Get Those Degrees”: Woman Shows PhD Holder’s Salary at Unisa That Has SA Completely Stunned

• A content creator shared a professor's payslip on TikTok after the PhD holder sent it in, and the numbers left people amazed
• The professor, who works at Unisa, shared their pay details but asked the woman not to share one specific detail
• South Africans in the comments could not stop talking about the salary, with some pointing out just how much of it disappears in tax and deductions

Content creator @Liferesetwithboni posted a video on 10 March 2026 that had people stopping mid-scroll. She regularly shares pay slips sent in by people in different professions to give her followers a realistic picture of what various careers actually pay in South Africa. This time, a PhD holder and professor at Unisa sent in their payslip and asked her not to reveal which faculty they work in. The payslip, which showed an income in the hundreds of thousands, were enough to send the comments section into a frenzy.

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She opened the video with a warning, telling viewers to watch at their own risk. Once the figures appeared on screen, it was easy to see why.

What does a Unisa professor actually earn?

The payslip showed a research incentive of R25,000, a cash back pay of just under R52,000, a cell phone allowance of R750 and a group scheme contribution of R1,380. The total gross package came to just over R253,000. After tax and deductions, which amounted to around R111,000, with tax alone sitting at roughly R94,000, the professor's net pay came to R142,000 a month.

Becoming a professor in South Africa is not a quick journey. According to the University of Cape Town, the path starts at lecturer level and moves through senior lecturer, associate professor and then full professor. It's a process that can take decades of research, publishing, teaching and academic leadership.

A PhD is the minimum entry requirement, and promotions are based on a combination of research output, teaching performance and institutional contributions. The salary at the top of that ladder, as this payslip shows, reflects those years of work.

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Watch the Facebook clip below:

SA gets curious about the PhD holder's salary

Social media users shared their thoughts on Facebook user @Liferesetwithboni's clip, raising doubts and questions:

@Boni Xaba clarified:

"Own risk 💃💃💃 This is commerce, not engineering."

@Patricia Aicirtap said:

"Somebody else's notch per annum is this prof's net."

@Arnold Rinono admitted:

"By just looking at the payslip, I happen to know the institution 😝😝"

@Phadzima Baloi reflected:

"Money is nothing, guys, just do what you love doing. Life is too short to be chasing money."

@Elias Tabane noted:

"This must be a full professor or distinguished professor with an NRF rating notch, not an associate professor."

@Sphamandla Vuyo Mkhwanazi pointed out:

"From R253k gross to R142k net — the whole R111k gone in deductions, with R94k going straight to tax."

More SA salaries that's got Mzansi talking

• Briefly News reported on an IT team leader's salary breakdown that had South Africans debating whether the pay matched the pressure that comes with the job.
• A Johannesburg man shared a senior Java developer's payslip and the figure after deductions had people seriously reconsidering their career choices.
• A teacher revealed the salary gap between being a substitute and landing a permanent post.

Source: Briefly News