Liquor retailers are furious over new licensing fees and zoning rules that require consent from schools and churches before opening businesses.
More than 400 liquor licence holders in the Eastern Cape had been reportedly unable to register or renew their trading licences because the provincial government introduced “exorbitant and unaffordable” fees from this month.
Now, the Independent Retail and Liquor Distributors (IRLD) body, which is also affected as suppliers to taverns and shebeens, says it believes the provincial Liquor Board was unfair to the traders.
Small retailers are also irked by the requirement that before they start a liquor business, they must obtain consent from nearby churches and schools. If those object, the licences are declined.
Provincial Liquor Board ‘unfair’
IRLD executive director Mfanelo Skwatsha said business licence application fees were doubled from R2 500 to R5 000.
Skwatsha said traders had to pay for a zoning certificate, annual registration and other fees which could bring the total administrative costs to R20 000.
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The regulations affected between 7 000 and 10 000 traders.
Skwatsha said: “We have already engaged the MEC [Nonkqubela Pieters] but the legal recourse is an option we are considering should our engagement with the MEC not produce the desired results.”
He said they rejected the suggestion that prospective traders situated within a radius of 500 metres from a school and church must first obtain consent from them before opening their outlets.
Regulations affect 7k to 10k traders
“While the issue of schools is debatable, the issue of getting consent from churches is unconstitutional,” Skwatsha said. e
“South Africa is a constitutional democracy and a secular state. No religious bodies should override the constitutional rights of citizens to conduct business.”
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