Liquor Licence Process and Costs

Drienie Brand, an Attorney, Notary and Conveyancer specializing in Liquor Licence and Property law presenting a video on the liquor licensing procedure and costs in South Africa.

In the Western Cape we lodge our liquor licence applications with the Western Cape Liquor Authority.

The Application Form for a liquor licence need to be completed and submitted with proof of payment of the application fees.

Depending on the type of liquor licence application that is being lodged, you will require a few documents and have to provide certain information, such as:

Copy of your Identity document or Company documents
Plan of the premises
Site Plan
Zoning Certificate
Menu in the case of an on-consumption licence
Letter from the Department of Agriculture if you are applying for a micro-manufacturing licence
Affidavits that prove that you do not have a serious criminal record
Apply for a manager to be appointed
Representations to the application detailing your particular situation, describing the premises and motivating the application for approval by the Authority
Documents to show that you have a right to use the premises – a Title Deed or Lease agreement

You need to ascertain the specific process of lodging an application in your province. Different kinds of licences need to be lodged in different ways.
Some need to be lodged with the Liquor Authority, some with the Municipality, some with the SAPS and sometimes all three.
The costs pertaining to licence applications vary between the different kinds of licences and also between provinces.
Some provinces allows for electronic submission and others require the licence application to be lodged in original.

A liquor licence application can take approximately 3 to 12 months, depending on the kind of licence application and the institution where it is lodged. A national distribution registration can take up to 4 months, if lodged correctly and with all the detail required. But a provincial licence can take between 6 and 10 months for final issuing and having the licence in your hands.

The costs to a licence application vastly differs between provinces.
The average cost is between R500 and R5000 payable to the Liquor Authority for the application fees. There is also an approval or registration fee payable to the Liquor Authority.

If you want to use a consultant to assist in the compiling and lodgement of your application, it can cost between R5 and R25 000, also depending on the kind of licence you are applying for.

In the next video I will take about the service of a liquor advisor and what you need to look out for.

You are welcome to contact me via my website dbrandattorneys.co.za or via email [email protected] or Mobile telephone: 027716747454