South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)

About SABS

The South African Bureau of Standards, or SABS, is the country's national standards body. It was first established under the Standards Act of 1945 and now operates under the Standards Act of 2008. Its head office is in Groenkloof, Pretoria.

SABS develops and maintains South African National Standards. These documents set out agreed requirements for products, services and systems. The organisation also promotes quality and offers conformity assessment, which checks whether a product or service meets a standard. It also represents South Africa as a member of the International Organization for Standardization.

In practice, this work touches daily life. Standards can apply to building materials, electrical goods, food packaging and many other items that people buy and use. Testing and certifying these items requires engineers, scientists, IT specialists and business staff. These are also the broad fields that the most recent SABS bursary call covered, which shows how the funding links to the organisation's own skills needs.

How SABS supports students

The most recent call we could trace ran for the 2025 academic year. A published copy of that advert named innobiz, the Durban University of Technology's Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, as a partner. It offered up to R150 000 a year for registration, tuition, books and accommodation.

The call targeted young South Africans under 25 with financial need. It also gave preference to students with disabilities and applicants covered by affirmative action policies. Therefore, it served a clear social purpose and did not only seek top achievers, although it still asked for a 65% average.

Our SABS Bursary page gives the full terms of that call, including the documents it requested.

What to know before applying

Start by checking whether SABS has opened a new round. We could not find an official advert for 2026 or 2027, and the 2025 call closed on 7 February 2025. Because of this timing, watch for a new call around the start of the academic year, but do not treat that as a promise. We found the 2025 terms in a third-party copy of the advert, so confirm any details with SABS directly.

Ask about your obligations as well. Successful candidates had to sign an agreement with SABS, but the copy we read did not say whether it includes work-back. Before you sign, find out what you must repay if you fail or leave your course.

You can reach SABS through its website, by email at info@sabs.co.za or by phone on 012 428 6666. Prepare your household income documents early, since these often take the longest to gather. Be wary of anyone who asks for money to process an application.