Gauteng Liquor Licence Holders - Verify or Lose Your Licence

Liquor Licence -  Liquor licence holders in Gauteng (+- 9,500) have to verify their liquor licences by 30 April 2015 in terms of a notice published in a newspaper last month.   A liquor licence holder has to verify a liquor licence by providing the following to the Gauteng Liquor Board :

• a certified copy of the liquor licence;
• copies of company registration documents;
• a certified copy of the owner’s identity document, and
• work permits and passports if a business is owned by non-South African citizens.

The advertisement threatens liquor licence holders with the annulment of their liquor licences if they do not comply by 30 April 2015.   The Liquor Board claims the process is legal as the Gauteng Liquor Act provides for a licence to expire "on a date on which the licensee abandons it in writing or on a date otherwise determined by the board".   However, this is disputed by legal experts.   The Liquor Board explained that this is an annual process and aims to keep its database updated. 

Whether the verification process is legal or not, it is difficult to see how the Liquor Board will be able to effectively process the paperwork – if reports of substantial backlogs of applications in the normal course of business are to be believed.

(Article in The Business Times, adapted by The Licence Co)