Pienaar rakes in the cash

This is revealed in ESPN The Magazine's Money Issue salary survey project, which was released some days ago.

Pienaar is not likely to feel the fine of £1,000 he received yesterday, for two counts of speeding in England, as he pocketed $4 200 000 [roughly R33 704 739] in 2011, according to the report.

The earnings represent salary and/or prize money from the 2011 calendar year or most recent season, and if official salary figures were unavailable, earnings were based on information from multiple sources including leagues, agents, sports federations, cultural centers and the United Nations.

Golfer Ernie Els was listed as South Africa's top earning sportman last year with figures of $5 347 012, but 'Schillo' holds the trophy this time.

Ghana's Asamoah Gyan and Liberia's Tamba Hali, who plays American football, are the highest paid sportsmen in Africa, according to the report.

However, Barcelona's Lionel Messi remains world football's highest earner with earnings of $43.5 million a year from wages, bonuses, sponsorships and endorsements.

Africa's top sports earners are: (in US dollars)

Algeria: Nadir Belhadj [soccer] $2 779 000 Angola: Manucho [soccer] $865 579 Botswana: Mogogi Gabonamong [soccer] $354 000 Burkina Faso: Charles Kabore [soccer] $1 118 000 Burundi: Saidi Ntibazonkiza [soccer] $352 000 Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o [soccer] $13 337 000 Cape Verde: Cafu [soccer] $250 000 Central African Republic: Romain Sato [basketball] $1 733 810 Chad: Misdongarde Betoligar [soccer] $21 500 Comoros: Kassim Abdallah [soccer] $112 031 Democratic Republic of Congo: Bismack Biyombo [basketball] $2 798 040 Democratic Republic of Congo: Christopher Samba [soccer] $8 000 000 Egypt: Mohammed Zidan [soccer] $2 580 000 Egypt: Mohamed Abu Treika [soccer] $2 580 000 Equatorial Guinea: Rodolfo Bodipo [soccer] $430 000 Ethiopia: Aselefech Mergia [Distance running] $263 000 Gabon: Eric Mouloungui [soccer] $960 264 Gambia: Ousman Jallow [soccer] $350 000 Ghana: Asamoah Gyan [soccer] $16 000 000 Guinea: Ibrahima Yattara [soccer] $2 300 000 Guinea-Bissau: Almami Moreira [soccer] $505 000 Ivory Coast: Yaya Toure [soccer] $15 407 800 Kenya: McDonald Mariga [soccer] $1 300 000 Liberia: Tamba Hali [American football] $16 000 000 Libya: Tareq al Tayeb [soccer] $1 500 000 Madagascar: Anicet Andrianantenaina [soccer] $120 000 Malawi: Tamika Mkandawire [soccer] $571 000 Mali: Frederic Kanoute [soccer] $8 600 000 Mauritania: Pascal Gourville [soccer] $353 000 Mauritius: Jonathan Bru [soccer] $49 607 Morocco: Moubarak Boussoufa [soccer] $4 300 000 Mozambique: Simao Junior [soccer] $516 000 Namibia: Collin Benjamin [soccer] $900 000 Niger: Alhassane Issoufou [soccer] $200 000 Nigeria: John Mikel Obi [soccer] $4 854 670 Rwanda: Edwin Ouon [soccer] $300 000 Senegal: Mamadou Niang [soccer] $7 000 000 Seychelles: Michael Mancienne [soccer] $2 400 660 Sierra Leone: Teteh Bangura [soccer] $1 111 230 Somalia: Abdisalam Ibrahim [soccer] $850 000 South Africa: Steven Pienaar [soccer] $4 200 000 South Sudan: Luol Deng [basketball] $12 341 275 Togo: Emmanuel Adebayor [soccer] $13 325 600 Tunisia: Anis Ben-Hatira [soccer] $1 000 280 Tunisia: Ammar Jemal [soccer] $1 000 280 Uganda: Mathias Kiwanuka [American football] $4 750 000 Zambia: Chris Katongo [soccer] $458 000 Zimbabwe: Nick Price [golf] $1 313 439

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