B-BBEE sworn affidavits for small businesses
How a small South African business gets a B-BBEE sworn affidavit, which template applies, and the CIPC filings that must be current before it can apply.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in South Africa
A procurement officer asks for your B-BBEE status, a large customer's supplier form has a box for it, and a tender lists it among the returnable documents. For a small business, the answer is usually a sworn affidavit rather than a verification certificate. The affidavit is short. Getting the right one, from the right place, with the company's other filings in order, is where small businesses lose time.
This guide explains the two routes to an affidavit, the CIPC filings that must be up to date for the electronic one, which templates the dtic and the B-BBEE Commission publish, and how to keep the current affidavit to hand.
Two kinds of small enterprise
The B-BBEE codes recognise Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs). Which category a business falls into is set by the codes that apply to its sector, and the thresholds are not repeated here; check them in the code that governs your industry before you sign anything.
The dtic publishes the Amended B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, issued in Government Gazettes 38764, 38765 and 38766, together with a revised notice of clarification in Gazette 38799. It also lists amended sector codes for the financial, forestry, property, tourism, construction, ICT, and marketing, advertising and communications sectors, and the AgriBEE sector codes. A business in one of those sectors works from its sector code rather than the generic codes.
CIPC's electronic affidavit for micro enterprises
CIPC offers one route online. It says it supports the B-BBEE Commission by providing the micro exempted affidavit electronically, but that it is not the administrator of B-BBEE legislation. In other words, CIPC issues the document; it does not decide B-BBEE questions or resolve disputes about status.
The catch is the precondition. CIPC says an entity must be "In Business", with up-to-date annual return and beneficial ownership filings, to apply. A company that has fallen behind on its annual returns, or never filed its beneficial ownership declaration, will find the electronic affidavit unavailable until those are brought up to date. Fix the filings first, then apply.
Note, too, what the electronic route covers. CIPC describes it as the micro exempted affidavit, so it is the route for exempted micro enterprises. A qualifying small enterprise, or a business whose sector code has its own form, works from the templates described next rather than from CIPC's online service. Checking which group you are in before logging in saves an application that cannot give you the document you need.
Templates from the dtic
For businesses that need a different form, the dtic publishes general sworn affidavit templates for EMEs and QSEs, including versions for specialised entities. These are completed, then sworn before a commissioner of oaths in the usual way.
Use the current template from the dtic's own page rather than a copy from an old tender pack. Forms change when codes are amended, and an outdated layout invites a query at exactly the moment you are trying to be appointed.
Sector-specific affidavits
Where a sector code applies, the generic affidavit is not the right document. The B-BBEE Commission publishes gazetted sector-specific sworn affidavit forms for EMEs and QSEs under the amended AgriBEE, construction, defence, forestry, financial, ICT, marketing, property and tourism sector codes. The Commission's sworn affidavits page carries those sector forms, with templates uploaded in June 2026.
A worked example in words: a small building contractor is asked for its B-BBEE status for a municipal tender. Because the construction sector has its own amended code, it completes the construction sector affidavit for its size category rather than the generic dtic form, signs it before a commissioner of oaths, and files the signed copy with its tender documents. How preference points then follow from that status is covered in preference points in public tenders.
Keeping the current affidavit ready for bid packs
An affidavit is only useful if you can find the current one quickly. Achekam's Document Centre is a folder-based store where a business uploads files or whole folders, then previews, downloads, renames, moves, tags, archives and searches them. When you upload a new version, the earlier ones are kept, so last year's affidavit stays on record while this year's is the one people see first. A folder for compliance documents, holding the affidavit, the tax status pin and company registration papers, saves a search every time a form arrives.
If your business bids for public work through Achekam's tender module, the affidavit becomes part of the bid pack. Achekam can e-mail a bid pack to the address the tender prescribes, once a person has confirmed it, and it records delivery and downloads. A colleague still verifies lodgement against the buyer's acknowledgement. Registration on National Treasury's supplier database is a separate step, covered in registering on the Central Supplier Database.
Before you sign an affidavit
- Confirm whether a sector code applies to your business.
- Check your size category against that code's thresholds.
- Make sure CIPC annual returns and beneficial ownership filings are up to date.
- Download the current template from the dtic or the B-BBEE Commission.
- Swear it before a commissioner of oaths, and diarise when it needs renewing.
- File the signed copy where your bid team can find it.
An affidavit is a sworn statement, and signing one that is wrong is a serious matter. Take the time to check the category and the template before you sign, not after a buyer queries it.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
