Liquor owners in Limpopo slate new liquor trading hours laws

Liquor outlet business owners in Limpopo have expressed mixed reactions on the decision by the Department of Economic Development enact a new law to regulate liquor trading hours. The trading hours have been reduced from 02:00am to 12 midnight.

This is effective from the beginning of next month, August.

The liquor trading hours in Limpopo are set to change. The new law will see trading hours being reduced by two hours.

Now, liquor outlet owners say these will affect the sustainability of their businesses.

A night club owner in Polokwane, Ahmed Milanzi, believes that the reduction of trading hours may lead to job losses.

“But now this law of closing down at 12h00 midnight, if you can check the night, the night life starts between 10pm and 01:30am. That’s where this night club is able to make money. If we cut those times how are we going to make money? We have a problem of unemployment in this country. Now, this is going to lead us to cut a lot of jobs in this industry,” says Milanzi.

A liquor outlet and distribution owner says the changes will affect the sale of alcohol to his clients.

“In town, the pubs and the clubs, I think that’s going to be a big negative, if there are extra two hours that we going to lose, where we were supposed to make extra money,” says liquor outlet and distribution owner.

An emerging liquor-brewing business owner indicates that the changes in trading hours will affect their income and revenue.

“The trading hours is cut by two hours, that affects the income for those certain dates. The revenue will be less. It’s a cut of revenue while the bills are still the same this is not fair at that level,” a liquor brewing business owner explains.

Economic development department spokesperson Zaid Kalla says they took the decision to reduce the hours after realising that there is no economic value to liquor outlets after midnight.

“The MEC has announced his intention to officially launch the new Limpopo Liquor Act which amongst other regulations see liquor outlets, or alcohol trading night facilities close their doors at midnight. As a department, we need to admit that we do not witness economic value from liquor outlets midnight,” says Kalla.

The Limpopo Liquor Act will be effective from the 1st of August this year.