Western Cape Liquor Stakeholders' Meeting

Thursday, 17 November, 2011
Cluver Markotter Incorporated
At the Western Cape Liquor Conference held in September the Minister for Finance, Economic, Development and Tourism, Mr. Alan Winde announced that quarterly meetings will be held with stakeholders in the liquor industry in the Western Cape.
It has been announced that the first meeting will take place on the 15th of December.

It is expected that the information and research upon which legislation for the regulation of liquor will be based will be on the agenda. Participants at the Liquor Conference pointed out that the research used should be relevant to the South African situation and not overseas experiences.

It is also expected that the role of municipalities in determining trading days and trading hours will feature.

According to Danie Cronjé, the Director of Liquor Law at Cluver Markotter Incorporated the wine industry is concerned about the effect that varied trading hours and trading days determined by different municipalities will have on wine tourism.

According to Cronjé he will request that the role of SAPS Liquor Officers under the current Liquor Act and the Western Cape Liquor Act to be implemented in April next year to be put on the agenda.

Roleplayers in the wine industry are experiencing problems with liquor licence applications because SAPS Liquor Officers often don’t understand position of wine estates who participate in the industry as micro-manufacturers, distributors, retailers and often also on-consumption outlets.