SALTA(SA Liquor Traders Association) will host an urgent Imbizo in the Johannesburg City Hall on 19 May to discuss various issues facing its members.   Subsequent to the meeting, they plan to meet with the Gauteng Legislature to engage on issues to :

1. Stop the current wave of police raids on their members;
2. Challenge the zoning and consent use requirements by municipalities and liquor boards;
3. Suspend certain section of the liquor act which make it difficult to trade;
4. Compel the Soccer World Cup organisers to allow members unconditional participation.

Justin Lawrence of Retail News reportes that local restaurants and night clubs could be forced to close early if Buffalo City Municipality approves a bylaw for liquor trading hours.

Restaurants, pubs, hotels and night clubs may have to cease trading at 11pm on weekdays and 2am at the weekend should the bylaw be passed.

The final draft of the bylaw will not be submitted to council for approval until after the public participation process has been finalised.

Last year the Eastern Cape Liquor Board unsuccessfully attempted to limit all liquor trading hours to 10pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends.

Current legislation

In terms of an agreement on trading hours made in the Grahamstown High Court last year, night clubs can operate until 4am at weekends and remain open until 2am during the week. But now they could be forced into closing earlier.

Restaurants, pubs and hotels currently operate until midnight during the week and at weekends.

As restaurants, pubs and hotels are being grouped together with night clubs in the proposed schedule, they could be given an extra two hours at the weekend, but an earlier closure during the week.

Local attorney Andre Schoombee said there was a grey area regarding trading times at present, but commended the municipality for drafting the proposed bylaw.

“There is actually no proper regulation following that court case, but it’s good news that they are trying to do something,” said Schoombee.

Mixed reactions

Owner of Buccaneers Sports Pub and Grill Harold Godard said he would oppose closing at 2am.

“Our licence is for 4am. We have a special licence which allows that, although generally we do close at 2am on the weekend,” he said.

Food and beverage manager at the Gonubie Hotel Mark Iveson said there was confusion surrounding the trading times, but he welcomed the late weekend closure.

“We usually close by midnight. If we could stay open until 2am on the weekend it would definitely help us, particularly in booking live entertainment,” he said.

Daryn Mildenhall, manager of the Numbers night club, said he could not imagine a scenario where his club would have to close early.

Mildenhall said: “I foresee a lot of venues being affected by this. An early closure would definitely have an effect on us.”

Source: Daily Dispatch

Ivo Vegter reported the article below on the destructive power of government relating to the regulation of liquor traders by the strict liquor laws in South Africa.
The regulatory state can be extremely destructive. One owner of a bar and grill discovered this a little too late.
Last week, a popular bar and grill near where I live was forced to stop selling alcohol. The local police discovered its liquor licence had expired, and summarily ordered the shut-down.
Since there is a serious backlog of liquor licence applications, obtaining a new one will take at least three months – a date which falls neatly on the far side of the World Cup tourist season.
That the owner of the restaurant was at fault is indisputable. A manager who used to handle this kind of paperwork had resigned shortly before the annual liquor licence renewal was due, and because of an administrative oversight, the renewal notices were being sent to the wrong address. The owner should have discovered this, and made sure his paperwork was in order. He didn’t.
Let us also take as given that liquor licensing is a justifiable intervention in the market, in pursuit of social objectives such as minimising public disturbances or preventing the sale of alcohol to minors. There are good arguments against licensing, in principle, but making them is beyond the scope of this column. At least this isn’t a sector, like casinos or broadcasting, where competition and small business is actively stifled by limiting the number of licences available.
Several regulars, upon discovering what happened, muttered imprecations about shebeens that operate with impunity. However, if true, and if they believe this to be a problem, it makes no sense to quibble when enforcement does take place.
So, let’s stipulate that the publican in question was in at fault, and there ought to be consequences.
That said, one might expect a more reasonable response from the authorities than summarily ordering a business to cease operations.
This particular establishment has had a liquor licence for over a decade, and has never faced a complaint of a violation of its terms. Now, a single administrative error has caused what might prove to be a mortal blow to the business.
“What gets me is the vast gulf between the offence and the punishment,” complains the owner. “I’m a strict landlord. It’s not like I sold drugs, or my customers caused a public nuisance. One mistake in ten years, and they shut me down just like that?”
Indeed, there was no reason other than routine for the inspection. No complaints had been laid, and it was clear that the owner’s failure to renew the licence was an oversight, and not an intentional infraction.
Yet instead of imposing a fine and giving the owner a fair opportunity to rectify his mistake, the inspector had no mercy.
“I asked the officer for one day’s grace for every year this business has operated without any hitch, but he refused,” the owner says. “In fact, he warned me that I shouldn’t try anything clever while I wait for a new licence. He kept saying, ‘We will trap you.’ He added that he is the one who will approve or reject my application.”
The consequences for the business were immediate and dire. In a way, it was fortunate that it happened at the quietest time of the year. However, this also means that there is little by way of a cash flow cushion to absorb the blow.
Daily, the losses mount, as customers have to be turned away or asked to bring their own beer and wine.
The barman, in tears, accepted a job as a waiter elsewhere: “We’re like a family here, but I have to eat, you know? I didn’t realise it could be this hard to leave a job, but what choice do I have?”
For his part, the owner has only one option if he wants to stay afloat while he waits long months for the inefficient government bureaucracy to issue a new liquor licence. He can go to his competitors, cap in hand.
Each liquor licence owner has, as part of his licence, a 30-day temporary permit which can be used for up to seven days at a time to cater for outdoor functions or other events off the main premises. The condition of using a temporary licence is that its nominal owner takes all legal risk, and also has to be the major beneficiary. Therefore, even if our unfortunate publican can line up half a dozen generous souls who will help him out, those licences will not come cheap. If he manages to juggle several temporary licences from week to week until his own licence is restored to him, he might just rescue his business.
In the mean time, the livelihood of half a dozen people are on the line as a consequence of the draconian reaction to a simple administrative oversight, and the government’s inability to speedily issue a new licence. This speaks volumes for the government’s commitment to fight unemployment and promote economic growth.
Remarkably, this is how things are meant to work. The owner was at fault, and the penalty imposed by the liquor licence inspector is as prescribed in law. This is the destructive threat that heavy-handed government regulation poses to the hard-working people of this country, even before corruption, cronyism and crime are factored into the equation.
An ancient precept in law and ethics, dating back to Cicero, says that the severity of a penalty should be reasonable and proportionate to the severity of the crime. It would be reasonable and proportionate to impose a fine upon someone who forgets to renew a liquor licence on time. Repeat offences, or failing to take action to remedy the error, might then incur a more serious penalty.
However, summarily ordering a business to cease trading, for a single slip-up in the paperwork, is a punishment that does not fit the crime.