BBBEE Compliant

What you end up holding

Two documents, in this order. First the CIPC registration certificate — the CoR14.3 — which proves the company exists and carries its registration number. Then a sworn B-BBEE affidavit for that registered entity, stating its turnover band and Black ownership.

The order matters. An affidavit describes a registered company, so it cannot be sworn before the company has a name and a number. That is the whole argument for buying them together: doing it in two purchases means waiting for the first to finish, then starting the second from scratch.

Why a new company can claim a B-BBEE level on day one

Most compliance documents make you wait. A tax compliance status PIN needs SARS to issue an income tax number first. A CSD profile needs both the company and the tax status before it will verify.

The affidavit does not. Turnover is sworn on expectation where there is no trading history, so a company incorporated this month can hold a B-BBEE affidavit this month. For a supplier whose first customer has already asked for a B-BBEE level, that is the difference between quoting now and quoting next quarter.

Affidavit, not a verified certificate

Buyers often ask for a "B-BBEE certificate" when what they will accept is a sworn affidavit. For an Exempted Micro Enterprise — generally under R10 million annual turnover on the generic codes — the affidavit is the recognised document, and no verification agency is involved.

Above that, the picture changes. Qualifying Small Enterprises are scored on a QSE scorecard, and businesses above R50 million need full verification by a SANAS-accredited agency. We are a filing company and cannot issue a verified certificate at any turnover, so if you are over the EME line we will say so rather than sell you a document your buyer will reject.

Sector codes move those thresholds. Construction, tourism, ICT, property, agriculture, and transport each publish their own bands, so confirm which code governs the work you sell before assuming the generic R10 million line applies. The B-BBEE affidavit service page goes through levels, validity, and the wording that gets affidavits bounced by procurement.

What this bundle deliberately leaves out

• Tax clearance. No income tax number and no tax compliance status PIN. If a customer asks for proof of tax compliance, this is not it.
• A CSD profile. Organs of state buy from the Central Supplier Database, so this bundle is not a tender pack.
• CIDB grading. Construction work is graded by its own regulator, on financial capacity and track record.
• COIDA. Compulsory once you employ anybody, and a separate registration with the Compensation Fund.

That list is the reason this bundle is priced where it is. It is the entry point for a private-sector supplier, not a public-works stack.

When to buy something else instead

If any part of your plan involves quoting to government, buy Tender Company instead. It adds the tax clearance and the CSD profile that public buyers check, and buying them later as separate services costs more than buying them together now.

If you already have a registered company and only need the affidavit, do not buy a registration bundle at all — order the B-BBEE affidavit on its own.

After the company exists

The affidavit is valid for twelve months from the date it is sworn, and two things end it early: crossing the EME turnover threshold, and any change in shareholding. Diarise the renewal against your CIPC annual returns, which fall due on the registration anniversary, so both land in the same month rather than surprising you separately.