Application procedure for new licences 

(1) An applicant is solely responsible for the correctness of any application or notice submitted by or on behalf of the in compliance with these regulations.

(2) Subject to section 36(2) an application for a licence referred to in section 33(1) must be lodged with the Authority and the designated liquor officer in whose area of jurisdiction the proposed licensed premises are located by 14h00 on the Friday preceding the first Friday of any month or, if that preceding Friday is a public holiday, on the last working day before that public holiday.

(3) An application referred to in subregulation (3) must be -

(a) made in the form of Form 3 in Annexure 3;

(b) typed in script on A4 size standard paper; and 

(c) contained the information as required in that form.

An application must be accompanied by:
(a) a comprehensive floor plan of the premises clearly showing:
(i) the proposed licensed premises indicated in colour in relation to the entire premises;
(ii) the uses of each room on the premises;
(iii) the uses of all the rooms on the premises;
(iv) all doors, windows and counters (where applicable) and means of internal and external            communication;
(v) the streets and places to which such means of external communication lead; and
(vi) where liquor will be stored on the proposed licensed premises;

(b) a site plan showing:
(i) an outline of every building within the vicinity of the proposed licensed premises on the erf to which the application relates;
(ii) other licensed premises on the erf;
(iii) the uses of all the buildings within the vicinity of the proposed licensed premises on the erf; and
(iv) the date of preparation and the name and address of the person who prepared the plan;

(c) in a separate document, a description of the premises with reference to the construction, layout, furnishing, fixtures, fittings and floor covering;

(d) colour photographs showing the completed internal and external features of the premises or, where the application relates to incomplete premises referred to in section 44, the stage of completion of the premises;

(e) written representations in support of the application;

(f) written representations in support of any determination, consent, approval or authority required by the applicant in terms of the Act;

(g) proof that the applicable application fee set out in item 1 of Annexure 1 has been paid to the Authority;

(h) a copy of the identity document of the applicant and, in the case of a person other than a natural person, copies of the relevant registration documents, indicating the identity and, where applicable, the financial interest of all members, directors, partners or beneficiaries;

(i) such other documents as may be specified on the application form and in the Act, or as may be requested by the Authority; and

(j) notice of lodgement in the form of Form 4 in Annexure 3.

Western Cape Liquor Regulations 
LIQUORSENSE
PO Box 18184
Wynberg
081 598 8145

Sober assessment of the province's approach to dangers of liquor

Sober assessment of the province's approach to dangers of liquor

SOUTH Africa's informal economy employs over .2 million people primarily within urban working class townships.

These residential settlements have grown substantially since 1994 and in the stagnating formal job market now represent a key frontier of business opportunity and a step out of poverty for South Africa's poor. Of the 10842 township micro-enterprises interviewed since 2010, virtually all are unregistered, and informal.

Thirty-nine percent of these trade in food (spazas, greengrocer retailing, food service), and 14 percent retailing liquor; the second most frequent category of business in the township economy. Over 60 percent of these enterprises are female operated with the majority selling less than 10 cases of beer per week. These outlets are recreational spaces that form part of the township leisure economy which includes street braais, musicians, DJs, guards, and casual workers.

In line with a national approach to limit the harms of excessive liquor consumption, the Western Cape Provincial Government recently released the Alcohol-Related Harms Reduction Policy Green Paper (2016) to provide strategic direction to its "game changer" strategy and the Western Cape Liquor Act (2010). 

The Green Paper certainly represents a game changer, mainly in terms of being a frightening regression to apartheid era technocratic cunningly embedded in proposals that differentiate between rich (largely white) and poor (exclusively black) communities. 

Under the guise of a supposed "whole of society" approach, the Green Paper effectively silences important research, tens of thousands of Western Cape microenterprises, their host communities and alternative perspectives. Further, the paper's dominant framing from a public health perspective sets up all challengers to its form of moral panic as being morally deficient.

Yet as we have historically raised in the media, academic papers and public forums, the actions of force-fitting liquor supply control onto the poor will fail and instead enhance economic and social marginalization.

The Green Paper represents an unbalanced approach to development needs and misses an opportunity to mobilize the kind of interdisciplinary knowledge needed to create sustainable impact. It makes no comment on the township economy contribution to livelihoods or economic growth. Given that it represents South Africa's largest collective employer, and the Western Cape township leisure economy reflects 160 000 livelihoods, the omission is glaring.

Instead it focuses on township liquor retailers only, arguing that: "unlicensed liquor outlets that cannot be brought into the regulated space and those who do not comply with the law must face the consequences of the justice system, be prosecuted and closed".

Yet due to their organic emergence, most township businesses (irrespective of the sector) contravene town planning regulations, permit requirements, signage rules, and the operational requirements in conducting day-to-day business. Further; liquor retailing regulations require licence applicants to operate from surveyed cadastres with title deeds in their name and conferred business rights (5 percent of all township land).

In 2010 there were just over 8000 licences throughout the Western Cape. Of these, 1 169 (14.5 percent) had been awarded to black persons. This racial disparity is profoundly biased towards localities like Cape Town's CBD with 1 232 liquor licences in 2011 serving a population of 206 805 people. By contrast, the district of Mitchells Plain (1 112 650 people) has 177 licensed retailers!

While the wine industry creates jobs, worker wages and employment conditions can be abysmal, as the recent documentary Bitter Grapes revealed. Further, the soft approach towards agriculture is glaringly apparent where it discusses foetal alcohol spectrum disorder: "Where there is an issue with cheap alcohol being delivered to their farms, engagement with farmers is required to persuade them to limit such access". The idea that township liquor traders should be condemned and prosecuted for facilitating illegal sales, but commercial (read white) farmers are rather persuaded to "limit" an illegal activity is astonishing.

The paper's silencing of alternative voices and targeting of marginalized businesses to achieve liquor harm reduction will fail. Instead, it will perpetuate the class of wealthy, licensed and predominantly white formal liquor businesses over a sub-class of illegal black township retailers. As such, inequality will deepen and liquor harms will continue to bedevil our society. The dialogue must shift to facilitating partnerships to reshape the township economy so responsible trading is rewarded, leisure offerings are diverse and business owners contribute meaningfully to improving safety within their communities. Silencing those outside public health, criminalizing township businesses ad condemning them for breaking the law is not a workable policy.

• Dr Leif Petersen and Dr Andrew Charman are directors of the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation, a think-tank on micro-enterprises in the township economy with many peer reviewed scientific publications in SA and a range of supporters including SAB.      

"In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas", ie "In wine there is truth, in water there is health."

How to apply for a liquor licence in the Western Cape

Before you consider selling or manufacturing liquor, you're required by law to apply for a liquor licence. Here's what you need to know. 

Types of licences 

The Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) controls the sale and micro-manufacturing of liquor in our province. The WCLA have four types of liquor licences:

Micro-manufacturing on and off consumption - a licence for the micro-manufacture and sale of liquor for use both on and off the premises where the liquor is sold.

1. Consumption on - a licence for the sale of liquor for use on the premises where the liquor is sold. 
2. Consumption off - a licence for the sale of liquor for use off the premises where the liquor is sold.
3. Consumption on and off - in exceptional circumstances, a licence for the sale of liquor for use both on and off the premises where the liquor is sold.

Follow these steps to apply

Step1: Check to see whether you qualify

Before you get your paper work ready, ensure that you meet the criteria to apply.

You cannot apply if you:

• have, within five years prior to your application, been sentenced to prison without the option of paying a fine;
• have within five (5) years prior to your application, been declared unfit to hold a liquor licence;
• were the holder of any liquor licence that was cancelled within a period of twelve (12) months prior to your application;
• are unable to pay your debts (unrehabilitated insolvent);
• are under the age of eighteen (18) when you apply; or 
• have a mental illness. 

Remember, if you micro-manufacture or sell liquor without the required licence, you will be found guilty of the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor.

Step 2: Prepare required documents

The WCLA needs the following documents:

• Completed application forms, typed on A4 size paper;
• A certified copy of your identity document;
• A copy of your passport and business trading permit, if you are not a South African citizen;
• a comprehensive floor plan of the proposed licensed premises;
• a site plan of the premises;
• description of the proposed licensed premises;
• Colour photographs of the proposed licensed premises;
• written representations in support of the granting of the license;
• Zoning certificate or copy of a planning application submitted to the municipality; and 
• Proof of payment of the prescribed application fee. 

Step 3: Submit your documents

You cannot fax or email your application. To apply you need to:

1. Send your application on the last Friday of the month by 2:00 PM, or 
2. hand-deliver or post your application to:

Western Cape Liquor Authority

3rd Floor

Sunbel Building, 3 Old Paarl Road

Bellville 7530