A question often asked by prospective liquor licence applicants is, can I get a temporary liquor licence while I wait for my permanent licence?  This question is particularly pertinent when one considers that a licence takes at least five months to be granted.  In the case of a liquor store licence the answer is no but in the case of an on-consumption licence there is the possibility of obtaining an “event” licence in the interim.

Because there was no other way to do it, one used to be able to “borrow” someone else’s licence on a temporary basis before the before the coming into operation of the new Western Cape Liquor Act (in 2012), but this is no longer allowed.  This would be done on the basis that a friendly existing licence holder would extend his licence and “use” your premises for a period not exceeding 30 days. Of course, you would in fact conduct the licence for your own account. An Application for a temporary liquor licence still exists but this is restricted to  use by existing licence holders for short periods of time when they use it for themselves at markets, exhibitions, festivals etc.

The Liquor Act makes provision for an event licence that does not require one to be the holder of a licence, which means that a prospective licence holder can apply for such a licence as an interim measure for a maximum period of approximately 3 months, “approximately” because the period is not laid down in the Act.  By implication this should be of reasonably short duration however.

The subsection in the Act was probably designed for once-off events for a limited period of time, not to accommodate “temp” licences to cover initial unlicensed waiting periods but the fact is that if one can justify that it is an ongoing continuous event, it is possible to obtain an event licence for a fairly extended period.  One has to go to the extra mile however by way of posters, programs and the like to prove that it is actually an event.