SALTA COLUMN
D A E H A S E G CHALLEN ar ahead
SALTA looks at the ye
A
t this, the beginning of 2017, we thank God for allowing us the opportunity to embrace this year. Our prayers are with the families who lost their beloved ones over the holiday period. It’s unfortunate that we tend to lose our beloved ones during these holidays when instead we are supposed to rejoice and be merry. As SALTA, we also lost some of our members due to natural causes and we say “dudu” to all affected families. On 23 November 2016, we had a very successful closing party hosted by our Alexandra branch, although it was a very challenging month since most branches were having their own closing events. This year is going to be a very challenging one for us, as liquor traders. The first issue that comes to mind is the unilateral increment of annual fees for our tavern and bottle store license
holders by the liquore board. The board decided to implement the increase despite our objections. We know that most of our members will not be able to pay the R5000 fee, especially since the initial annual fee was R100, which later increased to R2500. Now the board has decided to increase the fee by a further 100%. The board justified the increase by saying that it was necessary to meet their socio-economic commitments and that Gauteng was paying the least annual fees of all provinces. We have queried this as we know, for instance, that the Free State is paying far less than Gauteng. Some casinos pay as little as R300, yet their revenue far exceeds ours as shebeen and tavern owners. We can only assume that the sole reason for this extravagant increase is to minimise the number of liquor traders in the township.
As if this were not enough, we are aware of a pending case brought forward by some community members calling themselves the Yeoville/Bergvlei Tax Association against the DTI and Liquor Board. As a result, the judge of the High Court issued a directive through our MEC of Economic Development, Hon. Maile, not to raid liquor traders until this matter has been resolved; yet we continually witness the harassment of our members by some law enforcement personnel. We strongly suspect that the motive is to close us down. The case will be deliberated on 27 February 2017. We eagerly await the outcome, although we are not sure which direction it will take. We might be requested to reapply for our shebeen licenses, which would be the worst-case scenario, since we would then have to apply for letters of consent from various municipalities. We all know that municipalities operate differently from one area to the next. Those living in previously white areas have no difficulty in obtaining letters of consent or rezoning certificates, unlike members living in previously black areas. This will further force most of us to close down. We will keep you updated! Mish Hlophe, SALTA Acting President
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