Making Enterprise Development (ED) and Socio Economic Development (SED) contributions can be the easiest way to boost your scorecard points in a short period. Thus, if year-end is coming up, an ideal opportunity is presenting itself to your company to fill your point's gap with an appropriate contribution.

Please note, a key requirement is that any contributions for ED and SED must have been made and implemented before the end of the measured period.

Step One: First, you need to know the target relevant to your scorecard. For a Qualifying small enterprise, the targets are 2% net profit after tax for ED and 1% net profit after tax for SED. For a Generic company, the targets are 3% net profit after tax for ED and 1% net profit after tax for SED.

Please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are unsure as to which scorecard is applicable to your industry as targets do differ in certain industries.

Step Two: You now know your targets, therefore, you need to identify any contributions you have already made during your financial year and then 'top up' your contributions to make up the score required. Contributions can be made by means of cash, services or time, depending on the nature of the entity being supported.

Step Three: Make the ED or SED contribution.

ED contributions take the form of monetary or non-monetary contributions carried out for the defined beneficiaries, with the objective of contributing to the development, sustainability, financial and operational independence of those beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are defined as either Category A or Category B beneficiaries, where :

• Category A - ED contributions to exempted micro-enterprises or qualifying small enterprises which are 50% black-owned or black women-owned.
• Category B - ED contributions to any other entity that is 50% black-owned or black women-owned; or 25% black-owned or black women owned with a BEE status of between level 1 and level 6.

SED programmes can take the following forms:

• Development programmes for women, youth, people with disabilities or living in rural areas;
• Support for healthcare and HIV/Aids programmes;
• Support for education programmes, resources and materials at schools, bursaries and scholarships;
• Community training skills development for unemployed people and adult basic education and training; or
• Support of arts, cultural or sporting development programmes.

Contributions made to entities which benefit at least 75% non-white beneficiaries will be given 100% recognition. If less than 75% of the value of the contribution is allocated to non-white beneficiaries, the contributions will be recognised at the percentage that accrues to non-white beneficiaries.

Current harsh economic times are driving companies to cut back on cash donations and rather focus on spending time assisting beneficiaries. This can be mutually beneficial for all parties and an added benefit is that it can boost the image of the company, hence gaining more respect and interest from relevant clients and investors.

For more information about qualifying ED and SED initiatives and contributions, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

by Wade van Rooyen
IQuad BEE Verification (Pty) Ltd