Green light for shebeen owners to continue trading
Court process underway to regulate liquor trading in townships.
The high court has extended Gauteng shebeen operators’ permits pending finalisation of an application against the government.
On Tuesday, 29 October, the Gauteng high court ruled that permits of shebeen operators would remain valid beyond the initial cut-off date of 1 November 2019.
This follows an earlier order by the Gauteng provincial department declaring the shebeen operators’ permits invalid beyond 1 November.
The ruling would have affected around 15 000 permit holders according to the spokesperson for the MEC for economic development, agriculture, environment and rural development Nombulelo Nyathela
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Nyathela said in 2013, the shebeen regulations were enacted as an addition to the already existing liquor acts.
“Basically these shebeens regulations were meant to regulate smaller liquor traders, the shebeens you would often find in townships.”
Nyathela said in 2017, there was court action against the Gauteng department economic development on these very regulations.
“The court found the shebeen regulations were invalid and gave the department as well as affected liquor traders two years to migrate into the normal liquor licence which is regulated through the liquor act.”
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She said that two years later, they have found that not all liquor traders have migrated and this meant that they were still holding on to their shebeen permits.
“We then made an urgent application to court for the judge to extend the use of shebeen permits which the judge granted yesterday, but we are in tandem in court trying to appeal against the 2017 court ruling.
“What this would have meant is, had the court not granted the extension, that from the 25 of October the liquor traders that trade as per the shebeen regulations or are holding on the shebeen permits would not have been able to trade anymore. So, this extension allows them to continue trading. This would only affect people in possession of shebeen permits not the ones with a liquor licence.”
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