01 Apr The 2026 B-BBEE Amendments: What Changed and What It Means for Your ESD Spend
On 29 January 2026, the dti published draft amendments to the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice for public comment, and the Enterprise & Supplier Development (ESD) scorecard took the biggest hit of any element. The comment period closed on 30 March 2026. Here’s what actually changed, what’s still uncertain, and what it means for how you spend your ESD budget this year.
What Changed
Based on Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s analysis of Draft Gazette 54032, four changes matter most for measured entities:
- A new Transformation Fund option. Instead of the current split of 1% NPAT to Enterprise Development and 2% NPAT to Supplier Development (15 points combined), entities could contribute 3% of NPAT to an aggregated fund supporting Black-owned enterprises, EMEs and QSEs — worth 20 ESD points.
- A bigger scorecard, but not a proportionally bigger opportunity. Total ESD points rise from 40 to 62, but the maximum achievable (including bonus points) is capped at 47 — so the scorecard gets more granular, not simply more generous.
- A harder shift toward 100% Black-owned suppliers. Weighting for generic 51%-Black-owned procurement is reduced, while new weighting is introduced specifically for procurement from 100% Black-owned suppliers and 100% Black designated groups.
- Recognition now depends on evidence, upfront. Needs analysis documentation and annual monitoring and evaluation reports become required, verified before a contribution counts — not reconstructed at verification time.
What’s Still a Draft
None of this is final law yet. These are proposed amendments that went through a 60-day public comment window ending 30 March 2026; a finalised, gazetted version had not been confirmed as this was written. That matters practically: don’t restructure your entire ESD programme around point values that could still move before the Codes are finalised. Do start closing the documentation gap now, because “verify outcomes before recognising the contribution” is very unlikely to be walked back regardless of the final numbers.
What It Means for Your ESD Spend This Year
| If your programme currently relies on… | What to do now |
|---|---|
| Generic 51% Black-owned procurement spend | Start mapping which suppliers are 100% Black-owned or fall under Black designated groups — that’s where the new weighting is heading |
| Grants with no formal needs analysis | Build a documented needs analysis into every new grant from now, before it’s mandatory |
| Annual, informal beneficiary check-ins | Move to a structured monitoring and evaluation cycle that tracks turnover growth, job creation and contract wins |
| A single ED contribution with no Supplier Development component | Model whether the proposed 3% NPAT Transformation Fund route (20 points) outperforms your current 1%+2% split (15 points) once it’s finalised |
Where This Sits in the Bigger Picture
These changes track a direction the dti has been signalling for a while: less credit for procurement that technically qualifies but doesn’t shift real ownership, more credit for outcomes that are actually measured. For a fuller walkthrough of how the ESD element works and how to build a programme that holds up under this kind of scrutiny, see our complete guide to Enterprise & Supplier Development in South Africa.
We’ll update this post if and when the amendments are finalised and gazetted. If you want help stress-testing your current ESD programme against where this is heading, book a free 30-minute programme review.
