The pick-up in employment in South Africa was likely to be slow, according to the governor of the SA Reserve Bank, Gill Marcus.

"Unfortunately, despite positive growth, employment continues to lag and while this isn't unusual in the early phases of the cycle, there are other factors that seem to indicate that the pick-up in employment is likely to be slow," she said this week.

A disproportionately large number of jobs were lost in South Africa compared with other countries during the global meltdown, Marcus said - "yet wage settlements remain well above inflation, particularly in the public sector".

She warned that if these settlements were not matched by improved productivity there were likely to be inflationary consequences.

South Africa could not put employment creation as its priority, and then at the same time demand and agree to wage increases that were, in some cases, double the level of inflation.

"In this regard the behaviour of management is critically important, and outrageous increases or bonuses are simply not acceptable as management has to lead by example."

Marcus said that according to a recent survey, executive pay had risen (by an average of 11.5%) during the financial crisis and global recession.