What is B-BBEE?

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What is B-BBEE?

Involving Black people in all levels of business.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Strategy Document defines B-BBEE as “an integrated and coherent socio-economic process that directly contributes to the economic transformation of South Africa and brings about significant increases in the numbers of Black people that manage, own and control the country’s economy, as well as significant decreases income inequalities”.

The document further states that: “No economy can grow by excluding any part of it’s people, and an economy that is not growing cannot integrate all of it’s citizens in a meaningful way”.


The B-BBEE scorecard measures *enterprises based on the following categories:
(*not in a specific sector)

  • Exempted Micro Enterprise (EME) – turnover R10m or less
  • Qualifying Small Enterprise (QSE) – turnover between R10m and R50m
  • Generic Enterprise – turnover more than R50m

ElementGeneric ScorecardQSE Scorecard
Ownership2525
Management Control1915
Skills Development2025
Enterprise and Supplier Development4030
Socio Economic Development55
B-BBEE StatusQualificationB-BBEE Recognition Level
Level 1 Contributor≥100135%
Level 2 Contributor≥95 but <100125%
Level 3 Contributor≥90 but <95110%
Level 4 Contributor≥80 but <90100%
Level 5 Contributor≥75 but <8080%
Level 6 Contributor≥70 but <7560%
Level 7 Contributor≥55 but <7050%
Level 8 Contributor≥40 but >5510%
Non-Compliant Contributor<40none