MBOMBELA – After experiencing a few hiccups, the Mpumalanga Liquor Authority (MLA) has announced it is confident it will be able to issue new liquor-licence certificates to all applicants before the end of the month.
Ms Lisa Sheard, head of tourism at the Kruger Lowveld Chamber for Business and Tourism (KLCBT), said their members have been experiencing problems with the issuing of licenses for about 18 months. A number of licence holders took the matter to court at the end of last year, as their licences were expiring at the end of December.
Sheard said the situation had a negative impact on the economy.
“There is already enough red tape in terms of doing business in South Africa. There is red tape at every corner. But when this red tape is not even working, it makes it very difficult to do business. It is a huge problem for the hospitality and liquor industries.
“If you do what is required by law on your end, you expect them to play ball and issue licences. But they can’t give you a licence that you have paid for,” she said.
The project manager of MLA, Mr Nivard Lubisi, said there had been delays due to process changes at the MLA. It is in the final stages of transition to become a stand-alone public entity completely independent from the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
“During this period the MLA must install all its operating systems independent of the government systems on which it is currently operating. At this stage the installation of integrated IT infrastructure is currently in progress at the MLA.”
Currently licences are being issued by hand. “We conduct a manual verification process by confirming the existence of the licence from the previous renewal cycle, the payment of the current renewal fees and then issue the new licence certificate, which has security features that the previous forms of liquor licences did not have,” he said.
Lubisi said the renewal cycle will continue until the end of the month, as there is a two-month grace period allowed in the 1989 Liquor Act.
While licences initially expired on December 31, they remain valid until February 29.
“The current renewal cycle will run until February 29 and until then all liquor licences in Mpumalanga remain valid. The renewal process is currently underway and the new licence certificates are being issued by the MLA on a daily basis,” he stated.
But Sheard explained that licence holders such as bottle stores and restaurants have to produce their licence to suppliers, and have been unable to do so due to a backlog in issuing licenses.
She added that the police, knowing that licences expire at the end of December, conducted licence inspections in January and sometimes solicited bribes.
“Not only is this a problem for suppliers, who generally know that the MLB is problematic, but it also opens up the opportunity for corruption and bribery,” she said.
Lubisi countered that the situation has been clarified with suppliers, licence holders and their legal representatives, as well as the liquor consultants.
He added that licence holders should under no circumstances pay bribes to anyone, be they police officers or MLA officials.
By the end of the renewal period every licence holder will have received their new licence certificate, with adequate security features, to display in their premises.
He added that the MLA board’s compliance committee sits regularly. In mid December it considered 87 new applications and new licenses were issued to the successful applicants. At the moment 14 new applications are waiting for consideration by the board. “This means that there is currently no backlog of new applications to be considered,” he said
“The flow of business has not been interrupted and we remain confident that by the end of February all renewals will have been completed,” said Lubisi.
The MLA invites all licence holders who experience difficulties with renewals or purchases to approach their offices with their proof of payment of the 2016 renewal fees for assistance.
- Contact the MLA on 013-752-3761 or 14 Bateleur Buidling, Nel Street, Mbombela.
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