W. Cape leads the way on liquor legislation reform

THE Western Cape's plans to become the first province to introduce its own liquor law will come under the spotlight at the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa's (Fedhasa) AGM and Tourism & Hospitality Industries Convention in Cape Town between September 29 to October 2. "While the Green Paper, the forerunner of the proposed legislation, is of utmost importance to the Western Cape, any legislation flowing from it could also be crucial to the hospitality industry in South Africa as a whole, " says Peter Cumberlege, Fedhasa's legislative consultant. "The Western Cape, which is the first province to attempt to tackle the liquor legislation issue, may well influence all other eight provinces' legislation in this regard, with the Western Cape document well being used as a foundation or the core of other provincial Liquor Acts," he says. For this reason, Fedhasa has scheduled a special information workshop session on October 1 on the proposals around the Western Cape Liquor Bill. The session will be led by Helgard Wagener, director: business regulation, Western Cape Provincial Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Tourism. This session will assist licencees throughout South Africa to understand the future of liquor legislation. Fedhasa believes the workshop session will be the ideal opportunity for informal and unlicensed shebeeners and taverners to share their views. Information supplied with the National Liquor Act indicated that only some 12% of liquor outlets were licensed. The Western Cape has about 4 400 licensed premises, with police estimates that there are 20 000 outlets and shebeen associations putting the figure at 37 000. (Miguel de Sousa)