South African businesses print around 5 million paper payslips each month, consuming the equivalent of up to 650 trees’ worth of paper, according to an analysis by Genghis Technology. This figure is released during National Arbour Week (September 1-7), highlighting conservation efforts across the country.
The analysis estimates that between 600 to 650 trees are used each month, translating to approximately 7,000 to 7,800 trees annually. This is based on statistics from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) showing that around 11 million to 12 million people receive monthly payments across different sectors.
The report notes that while many companies believe paper payslips are a thing of the past, industry estimates suggest that between a third and just under half of the workforce still receives payments via paper instead of digital methods.
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Barriers to digital adoption
Researchers point to structural inequality in digital access as the main reason for the persistence of paper payslips. Around three-quarters of South Africa’s workforce operates in “deskless” environments, lacking regular access to email or self-service HR portals. This affects various sectors such as security, construction, cleaning, manufacturing, and domestic work.
Even companies that have invested in digital payroll systems face uneven adoption rates among distributed workforces, particularly those with lower-income employees who lack reliable smartphone access or data.
Legal implications of paper payslips
Paper payslips also present legal liabilities under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Compliant payslips must include sensitive information like PAYE and UIF deductions, ID numbers, banking details, and home addresses. The Information Regulator has issued fines of over R4 million to small businesses in 2024 alone, with individual penalties reaching up to R10 million and random audits of SMEs currently underway.
Unsecured payslips left on shared printers or in open filing cabinets fall within POPIA’s scope, regardless of whether the underlying payroll system is digital. Companies that view this as merely an administrative inconvenience underestimate the risk.
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Mobile-first solutions emerge
A new category of mobile-first payroll delivery tools has emerged to address the access gap. South African platform Tempered Talent routes payslips and leave applications directly to employees’ phones via channels like WhatsApp, bypassing the need for email or self-service portals.
According to Rylin Subrayan, founder and CEO of Genghis Technology, which developed Tempered Talent, “Paper payslips aren’t a compliance choice, they’re a legacy default that most companies never revisited. For a workforce this deskless, digital doesn’t mean email but rather meeting people on the channel they already use every day.”
Genghis Technology is offering digitisation analysis to South African companies looking to reduce costs, administrative time, and compliance risk through automation and digital payroll delivery.