Cops confiscate expired trading licences

PIGG’S PEAK – Many businesses are comfortably operating without licences.

This was noted yesterday when police officers pounced on business owners and confiscated their expired licences in Pigg’s Peak. The police officers were moving from one shop to another to check if the licences were valid. However, business owners were not happy about this.

They wondered why the police officers were checking licences yet they were not in the company of officers from the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Trade.

A businessman who owns a restaurant was left furious when police officers arrived at around 9am to check his licence.

It turned out that it had expired already. The businessman said he should have been allowed a three-month grace period as it usually was the case with the ministry. He said the ministry allowed business owners up to March.

He was not the only one who complained. Some of the business owners also went to the police station to enquire about the licences that had been confiscated.

Complained

They complained that the police did not have the right to confiscate their licences without the presence of officers from the ministry. However, according to Msebe Malinga, who is the Registrar of Companies, there was nothing wrong with the police officers checking for expired licences. He said the police could take action and at the same time they were allowed to use their discretion.

Malinga said a police officer could confiscate an expired licence and take appropriate action.

Further, Malinga said licences expired at the end of December and that payment was due for renewal. He said the March deadline was meant for payment of penalties.

He said the three months given from the time of expiry was the period business owners were allowed to pay penalties.

However, he said this was not a passport to operating without a valid licence.

Nosipho Mnguni, the Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer, echoed Malinga’s statement.