A national serviceman can earn from 90 cents (for a private) to R2.34 (for a sergeant per day, plus an additional daily allowance ('danger money') while on border duty or R4.10 for bachelors or R5.10 for married men. Thus for example an unmarried corporal would receive approximately R180 a month while in the "Operational Area."
Citizen Force members and commandos are much better paid: an unmarried private serving on the borders gets around R225 a month and a married lieutenant about R420. Giving these and other details about white soldiers' pay, the Financial Mail (16.1.76) commented: "Military pay is notoriously bad... especially for those who have been out of school or university for some years." Many serving soldiers, however, receive from their employers the difference between their army pay and their normal salaries.
The previous week the same journal gave wage rates for the main industrial and commercial sectors. In 1975 the average monthly wage in manufacturing was R109 for Africans (R518 for Whites), in retail trade R70 for Africans (R230 for Whites), and in mining and quarrying R71 for Africans (R663 for Whites).
