A network security engineer in South Africa has shared a payslip showing a gross salary of R83,119.07 per month, offering a look at what an experienced IT professional can earn after building specialised networking and security skills.
He has eight years of experience in IT, including five years with the current company. The payslip lists the department as IT / Network Operations, with an additional phone allowance of R2,000, bringing total earnings to R85,119.07.
Network Security Engineer Salary Breakdown
The deductions include PAYE, UIF, pension, and medical aid. This means the employee takes home R55,341.38 after the listed deductions. It is important to remember that this is one individual’s salary, rather than a national average for network security engineers. Experience, employer, location, responsibilities, certifications, and industry can all influence earnings.
What Does a Network Engineer Do?
Network engineers are responsible for keeping an organisation’s network infrastructure connected, reliable, and functioning properly. Their work can include configuring and maintaining networks, troubleshooting connectivity problems, monitoring performance, and helping organisations implement new networking technologies. For someone working specifically in network security, the role can also involve protecting routers, switches, firewalls, and other network infrastructure; monitoring security controls; and responding to security incidents. The activities may include the following duties:
- Protect networks using firewalls
- Monitor network activity
- Secure remote access
- Respond to cyberattacks
- Maintain secure network infrastructure
- Design secure networks
The Qualifications Behind This Network Engineering Career
This professional has built an impressive collection of certifications and qualifications. These include Cisco CCNP Enterprise, Cisco CCNA, Fortinet FCAC in Network Security, CompTIA Network+, Microsoft SC-900 and DP-900, Proofpoint AI Email Security, Oracle Cloud Foundations, VMware Data Center Professional, Introduction to Information Systems and Ubiquiti Broadband Wireless Specialist.
They also hold a Higher Certificate in Law from UNISA, while a Diploma in Law and BCom IT Management are currently in progress.
The next goal is even more ambitious: becoming Cisco CCIE certified, an expert-level networking certification. Cisco describes CCIE certification as requiring in-depth networking knowledge, practical experience and a challenging examination process.
From Applications Support to Network Engineering
There is also an interesting connection to our previous article about the Junior Applications Support Engineer career path. Applications support and network engineering are different specialisations, but both sit within the wider IT environment.
An applications support professional may spend their time troubleshooting software and helping users resolve application-related problems, while a network engineer focuses more heavily on the infrastructure that allows systems and devices to communicate.
For someone starting out in IT, this shows that a first role does not necessarily have to define an entire career. Building experience, adding certifications and developing a technical speciality can open different paths within the industry.
This salary example shows what can happen when experience is combined with continuous learning and specialised technical skills.
