Motherwell's 469 Bar Lounge and Butchery owner Siyabulela Mandla has responded to the assertion by the Eastern Cape Liquor Board that he did not have a valid liquor licence, saying he had paid for a new one but was never informed it was ready for collection.
This comes after Nelson Mandela Bay metro police and the Eastern Cape Liquor Board raided Motherwell taverns at the weekend.
It was found that some of the owners who could not produce a valid licence, were in possession of proof of payment for one, but had failed to collect their new documents.
Mandla who had paid for his licence but never collected it, said he fully supported the work of the metro police and the liquor board.
“But there is an area of improvement for everybody when it comes to the collection of renewed licences. You never know when your licence is ready for collection.”
He called on the liquor board to put in place a method of communication through which traders where informed when their licences were ready for collection.
“Then there won’t be this problem,” he said.
However, officials also discovered on Sunday that Mandla had failed to act on a compliance notice from November 2018 for failing to appoint a manager.
Eastern Cape Liquor Board representative Anele Gatywa said it was illegal for anyone to sell alcohol at a tavern without formally registering a person to make the sales.
“Our licence is person and premise specific.”
But Mandla said he was not aware of the compliance notice as it was clearly delivered in his absence and never reached him.
“I can’t blame the liquor board if they delivered a notice and it never reached me as that is an area for improvement on our side.
“People come and go in our small business space, so you would appoint somebody and that person leaves and you would have to redo the process.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of the notice and that’s why I never responded to it,” he said.
Mandla said he had since visited the liquor board’s office on Monday to collect his licence and appoint a manager.
During the raid, it was found that a majority of taverns in Motherwell were operating without a valid liquor licence on the premises.
Gatywa said owners were required to display or be in possession of a valid licence on the premises.