Business licensing

THERE are certain requirements for the running of business, as laid out in the Businesses Act, 1991 (Act number 71 of 1991): It is important to note that no person shall carry on any businesses in the area of jurisdiction of the City of Johannesburg:

• Unless, in the case of a business referred to in item 1(1) or 2 of Schedule1, he is the holder of an apposite licence issued to him by the council in respect of the business premises concerned;
• Unless, in the case of a business referred to in item 3(1) of Schedule1, he is the holder of a hawker's licence issued to him by the council.

Any owner of a business specified above, who is trading without a valid business licence, is advised to apply for one immediately. Applications for business or hawker's licences have to be made at the environmental health office in the region where the business premises is or will be situated or in which hawking will be conducted. A fee is payable in terms of the council's approved tariffs structure which is amended annually.

Click here to link to the Businesses Act and regulations on the national government's site under the Department of Trade and Industry. Click here to link to the City council's "policy, legislative process guidelines and protocol for the implementation and enforcement of the Businesses Act".