Professor Bathe has maintained strong ties with the University of Cape Town since graduating in 1967 as the Gold Medallist in Civil Engineering. He has sponsored the Klaus-Jürgen Bathe undergraduate scholarships in the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment for over 20 years. These are awarded to students in the final two years of study who show evidence of high intellectual power and commitment to achieving excellence in engineering. Six awards of R35 000 are awarded annually.

On his visits to South Africa, Professor Bathe was concerned about the problems facing South Africa and the continent. He believed every country needs good leadership in key spheres of human activity to ensure a decent standard of living for all its citizens. As a continent, Africa is blessed with abundant natural resources. However, to realise its full potential, the continent needs a critical mass of moral leaders committed to properly managing its wealth of resources, eradicating poverty and unemployment, and improving health and educational facilities for all.

Thus, his idea of a leadership programme at the University of Cape Town was born. In early 2014, he made a generous donation to establish the Klaus-Jürgen Bathe Leadership Programme. The programme's primary goal was to produce graduates with outstanding leadership qualities and a strong sense of social justice who would play significant roles in business, government, industry, and civil society in South Africa. Registered students from across all six faculties could apply for the scholarship. Over 70 scholarships have been awarded since the start of the programme. 

The programme ethos espoused in its selection of KJB scholars was particularly focused on young future leaders who hold leadership values that are hard to find today: dedication, altruism, humbleness, justice, and passion for helping others (a sense of community).

There are many leadership programmes in South Africa. This programme was different in that it specifically aimed to find, educate, and nurture talented undergraduate students towards becoming leaders who can tackle issues at the national level and uplift their countries for the betterment of all. In addition to the normal courses of their degree programmes, Klaus-Jürgen Bathe Leadership Scholars took additional courses intended to develop leadership qualities. These courses were electives from various academic departments of the University of Cape Town. A minimum of two courses had to be completed during the degree programme.

In the second year of the scholarship, the students spent up to six weeks attached to an approved organisation in South Africa, Germany, or the USA, which was a government department, a national agency, a public institution, or a large company. This attachment aimed to allow scholars to interact with leaders in various spheres (not necessarily in the same field as their degree studies) and learn through observation how sound leadership plays a crucial role in the successful running of key national institutions.

Alumni from the programme have gone on to found promising manufacturing start-ups and lead climate-change global youth campaigns overseas, while others have won Rhodes Scholarships for development/policy studies at the University of Oxford.

The last three students in the Leadership Programme will graduate in 2024, and from 2025 onwards, those joining the Leadership Programme will be awarded a Leadership Scholarship. The top students on the deans' merit lists across all six faculties at UCT will be invited to apply for a Klaus-Jürgen Bathe Leadership Scholarship. To be eligible, students must be South African citizens in their last two years of study. They will need to demonstrate evidence of academic excellence and a commitment to becoming future leaders of the country across all areas of South African life.