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20 September 2022

Business licenses: everything you need to know

If you are operating any of the following businesses in the Langeberg municipal area, you must be in possession of a Business License, in terms of the Business Act, 1991 (Act 71 of 1991).

Formal Businesses Any business providing meals for on, or off the premises consumption (for example: hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, wraps, breakfast and sit-down meals) Any business trading in perishable foodstuffs (for example: milk, meat, fish and fish products) Any facility providing Turkish baths, saunas, and health baths Any facility providing massages, or infra-red treatment Any business making the provision of escort services of males and/or females available Any business keeping 3, or more mechanical, electronic, or electrical devices for recreation or amusement (for example: slot machines, Pin Ball machines) Any business keeping of 3, or more snooker or billiard tables.Any business operating a night club, or discotheque Any business operating a cinema, or theatre. Any business conducting an adult premises in terms of Section 24 of the Films and Publications Act, 1996.

Informal Businesses Any business selling foodstuffs in the form of meals, or perishable foodstuffs which is conveyed from place to place by vehicle, or from a movable structure (for example: a food truck or trailer, a temporary structure at an event, or a market, or from an approved informal trading area) The following businesses are exempt from obtaining a business license: Business operated by the state or municipality (e.g.: municipal canteen) Business operated by a charitable, religious, educational, or cultural institution, agricultural organization, only if all the profits are solely devoted to the purposes of that organization (e.g., school tuck shop, church bazaar) The informal traders selling clothing, flowers, haberdashery, fruit and vegetables from an approved informal trading area. All other formal and informal businesses not mentioned above.

Formal Businesses
Any business providing meals for on, or off the premises consumption (for example: hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, wraps, breakfast and sit-down meals)
Any business trading in perishable foodstuffs (for example: milk, meat, fish and fish products)
Any facility providing Turkish baths, saunas, and health baths Any facility providing massages, or infra-red treatment Any business making the provision of escort services of males and/or females available
Any business keeping 3, or more mechanical, electronic, or electrical devices for recreation or amusement (for example: slot machines, Pin Ball machines)
Any business keeping of 3, or more snooker or billiard tables.
Any business operating a night club, or discotheque
Any business operating a cinema, or theatre.
Any business conducting an adult premises in terms of Section 24 of the Films and Publications Act, 1996.

Informal Businesses Any business selling foodstuffs in the form of meals, or perishable foodstuffs which is conveyed from place to place by vehicle, or from a movable structure (for example: a food truck or trailer, a temporary structure at an event, or a market, or from an approved informal trading area) The following businesses are exempt from obtaining a business license: Business operated by the state or municipality (e.g.: municipal canteen) Business operated by a charitable, religious, educational, or cultural institution, agricultural organization, only if all the profits are solely devoted to the purposes of that organization (e.g., school tuck shop, church bazaar) The informal traders selling clothing, flowers, haberdashery, fruit and vegetables from an approved informal trading area. All other formal and informal businesses not mentioned above.

Before any formal business license can be considered, all businesses must:
be conducted from an approved structure/building,
comply with the Langeberg Municipal Zoning Scheme,
comply with fire and health requirements, and
in some cases, get SAPS approval.

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