Page 21 - Q&A 2019/2020

New BEE amendments allow you to recognise
BEE bursaries for your BEE Scorecard

August 2019

“I understand that recent BEE amendments now make provision for bursaries
to be recognised under skills development. Our company has a bursary
programme through which we give two bursaries a year to students. We haven’t
in the past been able to recognise these bursaries for skills development
purposes. It sounds like this may have changed now? Will we now be able to?”
You have correctly picked up the amendments to the Skills Development
Element (Code 300) of the BEE Codes of Good Practice that were published on
31 May 2019 and are effective as of 1 December 2019. Despite only becoming
effective from 1 December 2019, businesses can voluntarily elect to be rated in
terms of the amended skills development scorecard immediately.

In terms of these amendments to the Skills Development Element, the
compliance target for skills development expenditure on learning programmes
for black people has been reduced from 6% to 3,5% of the leviable amount as
well as reducing the scorecard points from the current 8 points to 6 points. This
target includes all external training expenditure for black employees as well as
unemployed black persons.
Additionally, the amendments now introduce a new scorecard indicator,
namely bursaries for black students at higher education institutions, allocating 4
scorecard points for meeting a target of 2,5% of the leviable amount. Important
to note is that the overall Economically Active Population (EAP) demographic
representation of black persons in South Africa also applies to the compliance
target set for these bursaries and scholarships and will have to be taken into
account in the calculation of points.
Bursaries as per the skills development matrix provided in the amended
scorecard includes expenditure on institution based theoretical training at
accredited training providers registered with the Department of Basic Education
or the Department of Higher Education and which will result in the achievement
of a degree, diploma or certificate.
Legitimate training cost for bursaries and scholarships include the partial or full
payment of school, college and university fees, the funding of text books, the
funding for subsistence or accommodation during the period of study as well
as stipends paid to bursary holders during the period of the bursary programme.
Expenditure on bursaries and scholarships are however only recognisable for
the skills development scorecard if no portion of the bursary or scholarship
expenditure can be recovered from the student or if the bursary or scholarship

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