You’d think, for an economy as comparatively small as ours, that our president would take a more sustainable approach to his salary.

On the contrary, however, el presidente relishes the annual increases in his earnings and now trumps countries like the United Kingdom and France with his presidential salary.

Have a look at the world’s 12 highest earning leaders.

Barack Obama – United States

R4.9 million

Stephen Harper – Canada

R3.19 million

Angela Merkel – Germany

R2.87 million

Jacob Zuma – South Africa

R2.74 million

David Cameron – United Kingdom

R2.63 million

Shinzo Abe – Japan

R2.48 million

Francois Hollande – France

R2.4 million

Vladimir Putin – Russia

R1.66 million

Matteo Renzi – Italy

R1.53 million

Dilma Rousseff – Brazil

R1.47 million

Narendra Modi – India

R370 000

Xi Jinping – China

R270 000

While every other leader on this list presides over economies much larger and healthier than our own – save Russia –, Jacob Zuma earns more than most of them.