B-BBEE ESD Programme Design & Delivery · South Africa
Enterprise and Supplier Development that builds ready businesses - not just scorecard points.
A CA(SA)-designed six-week programme for South African corporates. Honest about what six weeks can produce. Rigorous about how it is documented.
What this programme actually delivers
FOR YOUR SUPPLIERS
A structured programme that moves them from reacting to running a real business.
Six facilitated sessions. Financial literacy built in. Every programme custom-designed for your sector and cohort. A 90-day plan they leave with.
FOR YOUR SCORECARD
CA(SA)-authored documentation mapped to ESD and Skills Development elements.
Structured for verification today and for the incoming 2026 Code requirements. Pre and post supplier assessments included.
FOR YOUR EXECUTIVE
A written account you can table without being the sole author of the argument.
Impact reporting beyond spend disbursed. Language for the budget conversation - before it happens, not after.
Master Mentor
Graça Machel Trust - Women Creating Wealth
South Africa · Malawi · Tanzania · Zambia · Kenya
Why Most ESD Spend Doesn't Produce Capable Suppliers.
The B-BBEE Commission's own 2022 research found that nearly 40% of ESD funds went undeployed - not because corporates lacked the money, but because programmes couldn't absorb it usefully. GIBS confirmed in 2024 what most ESD managers already know: the system rewards breadth over depth, spend over development, documentation over outcomes. We can't change the scorecard. What we can do is design a programme that produces something real inside it - and documents it in a way that holds up to scrutiny.
2026 Policy Shift
62
ESD scorecard points under the draft amendments - up from 40
25%
Proposed procurement target from 100% black-owned suppliers - highest-weighted criterion
M&E Required
Needs analysis and performance metrics now required for ESD point recognition
40%
ESD funds undeployed annually - five consecutive years
The Honest Conversation
The system is only half the problem.
Some founders arrive ready to build. They use every session, apply what they learn, and leave with a business that works differently. Others arrive ready to wait: for the grant, for the procurement opportunity. The training happens around them.
Understanding why engagement varies within the same cohort: and what actually determines whether a founder uses what they learn: is built into how this programme is facilitated. Not as a theory. As a practice.
THE PROGRAMME
From Busy to Strategic
Six sessions. One shift.
Every programme is custom-designed for the specific corporate, sector, and cohort — no two are identical. Designed around the key drivers of business — adapted for your sector, your cohort, and your supply chain reality. Course access continues after delivery. Every supplier leaves with a 90-day plan — not a certificate.
Every programme is custom-designed for your organisation, your suppliers, and your sector. The three engagement levels below describe how we work together — not what gets standardised.
01 — FOUNDATION
Done For You
A fully custom-designed programme. We handle design, delivery, and documentation. You refer the suppliers and receive the report.
Full 6-pillars custom cohort delivery
Attendance and engagement records
CA(SA) verification-ready documentation
Scorecard-mapped impact report
Debrief call included
BEST FOR:
First engagements · tight timelines · corporates who need compliant delivery without managing the process
MOST REQUESTED
02 — STRATEGIC
Done With You
A custom-designed programme built with your input. Deeper documentation, executive-ready reporting, and a 2026 M&E framework aligned to your requirements.
- Everything in Foundation, plus:
- Intake readiness assessment per supplier
- Programme co-designed with your input
- Executive-facing impact report
- 2026 M&E framework documentation
- 90-day post-programme check-in
- Internal briefing document for your executive
BEST FOR:
ESD managers building internal buy-in · 2026 compliance preparation · budget review cycles
03 — PARTNERSHIP
Done Together
A multi-year custom programme strategy. We design, deliver, and evolve the programme alongside your organisation — cohort by cohort, year by year.
- Everything in Strategic, plus:
- Annual ESD strategy review
- Multi-cohort supplier tracking
- Board-ready impact reporting
- Direct advisory access to Phuti
- Named strategic ESD partnership
BEST FOR:
Multi-year ESD strategies · boards treating ESD as investment · Graça Machel Trust-type partnerships
A note on attendance: Not every supplier engages fully. Some attend because their corporate sponsor requires it. We design for the ones who show up — and document honestly for the ones who don't. Understanding why engagement varies within a cohort is built into how this programme is facilitated.
WHY THIS IS DIFFERENT
Most coaches tell you mindset. Most accountants tell you numbers. Phuti does both.
Most ESD programmes are designed by facilitators who understand either the human side or the compliance side. Rarely both. The result is training that checks boxes but doesn't change how a founder actually runs their business.
This programme sits at the intersection of financial rigour and the science of behaviour change. That combination is not common in the ESD space - and it is why what gets built in six weeks outlasts the programme itself.
"Every provider in this space has promised you ROI. Ask them to show you a supplier that's still actively trading in the supply chain two years after their programme ended."
- Phuti Mphelo CA(SA), Yay to Freedom
WHAT MAKES THIS PROGRAMME DIFFERENT
01 - Designed by a CA(SA)
The financial and compliance modules are built by a Chartered Accountant. The documentation is structured for an auditor because the person who designed it knows exactly what an auditor looks for.
02 - Financial and behavioural - not one without the other
Financial systems without behaviour change don't hold. Behavioural work without financial structure produces nothing verifiable. This programme addresses both.
03 - Honest about what six weeks can do
Not every supplier will engage. Not every founder will apply what they learn. We document that honestly. A report showing 100% engagement when reality is 70% is not a document you can defend.
04 - Depth over breadth - by design
GIBS 2024 confirmed what most ESD managers suspect: the quality-quantity trade-off is real. We'd rather build something that lasts with fewer suppliers than disburse spend broadly and build nothing that survives.
ABOUT
The person behind the programme.
Most business coaches tell you to work on your mindset. Most accountants tell you to fix your numbers. Phuti Mphelo does both.
Phuti Mphelo is a Chartered Accountant, Master NLP Practitioner, and Dual Elite Certified Neuroencoding Specialist with over 20 years of experience across finance departments in the private and public sector, business advisory, and entrepreneur coaching.
She serves as Master Coach for the Graça Machel Trust's Women Creating Wealth programme: delivering coaching across South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. She has been on both sides of the ESD relationship: as a trainer of suppliers, and as a business owner who has navigated corporate supply chains herself.
She has been on both sides of the table: inside the corporate system as a CA, and outside it as a founder. That experience is not a credential she lists. It is the reason the conversations in the room are different from anything a textbook-trained facilitator can produce.
CREDENTIALS
- CA(SA): Chartered Accountant, South Africa
- Master NLP Practitioner
- Dual Elite Certified Neuroencoding Specialist
- B-BBEE ESD Programme Design & Delivery
- Skills Development Facilitator (Element 6)
- POPIA Compliant
CLIENTS & PARTNERS
FOR ESD MANAGERS
A readiness-first programme still delivers your points.
The incoming 2026 DTIC draft amendments require needs analyses, performance metrics, and annual M&E reports as conditions for ESD point recognition. Our documentation is already structured for this standard.
| Scorecard Indicator | What We Deliver | Verification Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier Development spend(2% NPAT - 10 pts) | Direct SD contributions structured and documented per beneficiary | CA(SA) impact reports · invoices · beneficiary agreements |
| Enterprise Development(1% NPAT - 5 pts) | ED structured as non-financial support with quantified monetary value | Hour logs · programme curricula · valuations per intervention |
| Quality of spend(2026 draft requirement) | Needs analysis, performance metrics, and M&E per beneficiary | Readiness assessments · pre/post reports · outcome tracking |
| Skills Development(Element 6) | Accredited skills delivery embedded in programme structure | ATR/WSP documentation · attendance registers · facilitator credentials |
| Measurable outcomes(incoming draft bonus points) | Turnover growth, job creation, and market access tracked per cohort | Year-on-year comparative data per beneficiary |
| Preferential Procurement100% black-owned suppliers (proposed 25% TMPS - 7 pts) |
Developing 100% black-owned suppliers to corporate supply chain standard | Supplier capability profiles · compliance documentation |
The January 2026 gazette is the most significant proposed revision to the B-BBEE Codes since 2013. It remains under public comment - the final form may differ. The direction will not reverse. An ESD manager whose programme already produces outcome evidence is ahead of this change regardless of how the amendments land.
RESULTS
What this looks like in practice.
Not outcome guarantees - evidence of what a well-designed, honestly-documented programme produces when both the corporate and the supplier show up.
95%
Programme completion across cohorts
Readiness starts with showing up
120+
Suppliers put through the programme
Across sectors and provinces
5
Countries reached via Graça Machel Trust
SA · Malawi · Tanzania · Zambia· Kenya
20+
Years of CA(SA) and advisory experience
Finance · ESD · Coaching
CASE STUDY - GRAÇA MACHEL TRUST
Women Creating Wealth - coaching across four countries, not just one cohort.
Selected as Master Coach for the Graça Machel Trust's Women Creating Wealth programme, Phuti designed and delivered a multi-cohort supplier readiness programme for women entrepreneurs across South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. The programme combined financial systems, business model development, and behavioural coaching - because the Trust understood that capability building requires both.
95% completion across cohorts. Four-country reach. Founders who left with a business model and a 90-day plan - not just a certificate for attending.
Graça Machel Trust · Women Creating Wealth Programme · Southern Africa
What we cannot do - and say so.
We cannot guarantee supplier success. No programme can. We cannot fix a procurement policy that won't buy from developed suppliers. We cannot compel attendance from SMEs present only for access. We do not track supplier performance after the programme ends - that sits in the ESD manager's hands, and we say so clearly.
What we can do: build the financial and operational foundations that give a supplier their best possible chance - and produce the documentation that lets an ESD manager defend that work, internally, with confidence.
Free Briefing Document
Why Most ESD Spend Doesn't Produce Capable Suppliers
A CA(SA)-authored briefing using B-BBEE Commission and GIBS research. Includes a scorecard mapping table for the 2026 Code requirements. Written for ESD managers who already know something is off — and need language to act on it.
- What the B-BBEE Commission's own data shows about ESD fund utilisation
- The GIBS 2024 research on quality vs quantity in ESD programmes
- How the 2026 Code amendments change the measurement standard
- What a readiness-first programme looks like mapped to your scorecard
- Seven questions to ask any ESD programme provider — including us
Download the Briefing
Four pages. Sourced and citable.
Resources
ESD intelligence. Free to use.
Articles, research translations, and practical guides for ESD managers and SME suppliers. Published monthly.
Pillar 1 · B-BBEE Fundamentals
What is Enterprise and Supplier Development? A Plain-Language Guide for South African Corporates
The scorecard explained simply. What ESD is, where it sits in B-BBEE, and why it carries the most operational complexity of any element.
ESD Managers · SMEs
Coming Soon
Pillar 2 · Readiness Architecture
Supplier Readiness — The Only Thing ESD Spend Can Actually Build
No ESD programme can guarantee supplier success. But it can build the financial, psychological, and operational foundations that make success possible.
ESD Managers
Coming Soon
Pillar 3 · 2026 Compliance Gap
The 2026 B-BBEE Code Amendments Explained — What Every ESD Manager Needs to Know Now
The DTIC's January 2026 gazette is the most significant revision to the B-BBEE Codes since 2013. Five changes. What they mean. What to do before verification.
ESD Managers
Coming Soon
Pillar 4 · From Busy to Strategic
You're in a Corporate ESD Programme. Here's What to Actually Do With It.
Most SMEs attend because they have to. The ones who thrive are the ones who decide to use the six weeks. Here is the practical difference between attending and using.
SME Founders
Coming Soon
Pillar 6 · Access & Funding
How to Access ESD Funding as a South African SME — A Practical Guide
What ESD funding is, what it covers, and what corporates actually look for in a beneficiary. The guide most SMEs never get before they need it.
SME Founders
Coming Soon
Pillar 5 · Neuro-Finance Hybrid
Why Capable Suppliers Fail in Corporate Supply Chains — and Why It's Not a Skills Problem
The most capable founders sometimes produce the least change. The research on why — and what a programme designed for both the financial and behavioural gap looks like.
Both Audiences
Coming Soon
Associated with
NEXT STEP
Let's look at your programme honestly.
A 45-minute ESD Programme Audit. We assess your current programme structure, identify the gaps, and give you a written summary - whether or not you engage us further.
Yay to Freedom
A CA(SA)-led ESD supplier development firm. Designing and delivering honest, rigorous programmes for South African corporates and their supply chains.
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The Programme
- From Busy to Strategic
- Foundation — Done For You
- Strategic — Done With You
- Partnership — Done Together
Engage
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