Due diligence

Let’s be fair to the authorities. South Africa has a huge social problem with alcohol. Alcohol abuse fuels crime and violence, against women and children in particular. There is an epidemic of illegal sale of alcohol. The provincial Liquor Boards, who issue on- and off-consumption liquor licences, have a duty to scrutinise every application and ensure the suitability of the licence holder and the premises. This is part of their duty to protect the public. 

The National Liquor Authority is part of the DTI and is charged with regulating the macro manufacturing and distribution tiers of the liquor industry. Each province has its own liquor authority and you must apply to your local board for a liquor licence for on-consumption, off-consumption and micro manufacturing.

Applicants must undergo police clearance and submit building plans, photographs of the premises, information about where the alcohol will be stored, written representations in support of the application, and various other documents. Checking the authenticity of these documents and conducting due diligence on the applicant takes time. In a period of expansion in the industry, there  will be an inevitable backlog of applications in the processing pipeline. The Liquor Board is just doing its job.

This is usually what takes time.

 

Liquor licence nominal timelines

There are certain milestones that must be met in the liquor licensing process. For example, a notice must be publicly displayed on the proposed licensed premises indicating that an application has been lodged for a liquor licence. This must be on display for 28 days from the date of application lodgement.

Furthermore, there is a cut-off date every month by which applications must be lodged. They must be submitted by 14:00 on the Friday preceding the first Friday of any month (or if the preceding Friday is a public holiday, by the last working day before the holiday). When you add these lead times together, and allow for the workload of the Liquor Licensing Tribunal, it’s not hard to see how the time required to grant a licence adds up.

If you are opening a new establishment, be sure to allow at least six months for your licence to be granted, but don’t be surprised if it takes much longer.

 

Refunds

We operate a strict 5 day cooling off period and as such our refund policy lasts 5 days. If 5 days have passed since your first payment, we can’t offer you a  refund as we will have started working on your application for a license and spend lots of the fees already.

To be eligible for a refund, you must contact us in writing at info@liquorshield.co.za within 5 days from the point of payment and request a refund and the reason why you are cancelling the application.

Once we have received your refund request, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your request and will confirm to you of the approval or rejection of your refund.

If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.

 

Late or missing refunds

If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account again.

Then contact your credit card company, it may take some time before your refund is officially posted.

Next contact your bank. There is often some processing time before a refund is posted.

If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at info@liquorshield.co.za.

 

Processing Your Application

We will start working on your license application after the 5 day cooling off period has passed. This is to ensure you have not changed your mind before we start spending the fees.

Once the 5 days period has passed then no refund is possible.

If you paid the deposit and are paying the remainder with the monthly payment system, then to be clear your license can only be provided after all funds have been paid to us in full.

No license will be provided if you still have outstanding payments to make to us.