Not needing a liquor license for events would definitely make life easier. The truth is, without one, you aren’t selling liquor on your event’s premises without risking a whole lot. Luckily, getting one only requires a slight amount of admin.

So, let’s talk about securing you a liquor licence. A temporary one, at that. One of these liquor licences, of the temporary variety, will allow the event to sell liquor to the public for the duration of the event at the designated venue. Of course, as we mentioned before, not having a temporary liquor licence could be risky, resulting in the police confiscating all liquor at the event and a hefty fine if they decide to raid the event. Seriously, no-one wants a raid. That kind of bad-news doesn’t bode well for throwing future events or indeed convincing people to come to those events.

The cost of the application under terms 23 of the liquor act is R1 000. That’s a small price to pay to ensure you’re a legal eagle. Another important note is that your application needs to be submitted at least a full 14 days before your event. This gives everyone enough time to go through your application and (hopefully) approve it.

So grab the form and get your supporting documents ready.

A.  Completed Application Form

• In duplicate form. The form is available here on pages 39 to 43.

B.  Proof of Lawful Occupation

• You will need to provide written proof from the event organiser or organisation that you have the right to occupy the premises that you will be selling liquor on.

C.  Written motivation with supporting documents

• For the support document, you’ll need to outline how your event will have an impact on the community and it’s surrounds. Basically why it’s a good thing for them to allow you to have the event at that venue.
• You will also have to provide all details on what type of liquor to how many units you plan on selling. So get out your calculator.

D.  A detailed sketch and plan of your event’s layout

• On the site plan, you’ll need to describe the premises and then show a detailed map with your layout of the event areas, how the traffic will move and park etc.

E.  Certified copies of the applicants’ IDs

F.  Proof of payment of the application fee of R1 000 to FNB

• This fee is payable to FNB. We have been unable to find the banking details for the liquor board online. Note that there are banking details on the DTI's website but this is for a liquor distributor licence which is not the same as an occasional licence.

On top of the above, you will need the following should you be applying for a temporary liquor license as part of a company

G.  Certificate of Incorporation from your company

H.  Special Events Notice

• This must be given to the local police station in the area of where the event will take place. You can find this notice here on page 44.

Once you’ve submitted your application the police may then give suggestions for or against the application for a period of seven days. Once the Liquor Board has received the application, they will consider the granting of the licence. If there is no objection from the local municipality and community police, the application should be successful and you can go ahead and sell liquor at your event with a clear conscience.

For any other questions or queries, here are the contact details for the Gauteng Liquor Board:

• 124 Main Street, Corner Main and Kruis Streets (opposite Carlton Centre), Marshalltown, Johannesburg.
• Tel: (011) 085 2245 or 060 996 4629

Of course. It is 2019 after all. Here are a few options to have someone else do the heavy-lifting part of the application on your behalf at an extra cost. In many instances it’s worth it, as getting all the above together can be tricky at times.

• Liquor Trade SA
• African Legal Services

When you're ready to talk about your ticketing needs, we can help with that, too. And if you're looking for more resources, be sure to check out our ultimate list of South African event suppliers.