Businesses face fee squeeze

THE City of Windhoek has announced new regulations which will force all businesses, including shebeens, in the capital to register with the municipality.

The registration, at a cost ranging from N$148 to N$443, will be in addition to the health fitness certificate that all businesses in the city are required to have. Failure to do so will result in business owners facing a jail term of up to six months or a N$2 000 fine or both, says the municipality’s spokesperson, Ndangi Katoma.He told a media briefing yesterday that the new regulation, a provision of the Local Authorities Act, had already been gazetted and would come into effect immediately.However, business owners have a grace period up to the end of this year.The registration must be renewed each year.Katoma said the registration fees still had to be determined by the City Council but were provisionally set at between N$148 for non-food-related businesses and N$442,75 for food-handling businesses – whether small or large.Katoma said anyone conducting business in Windhoek without the certificate would be regarded as illegal and treated as such.Under the new law, every owner of a business in Windhoek must be a Namibian citizen or must have a permanent residence or work permit.The new regulation is seen as putting additional pressure on shebeen owners, who recently demonstrated because Police closed down their illegal operations.Shebeen owners complained that the process of registering their businesses was cumbersome and the demands one too many.Katoma urged all business owners not to wait until the end of the year when the law would be enforced, but to start registering now.He said a registration certificate for office-related work would be issued on the same day, but could take up to five days for factory-related businesses, crèches, hair salons, clubs, bars, food-preparation premises and mechanical workshops.Jan Venter, Manager of Health Services at the City of Windhoek, said owners would need a registration certificate for each of their business premises.He said Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo and Walvis Bay had already started implementing the new regulation and it would eventually be enforced at all municipalities.Failure to do so will result in business owners facing a jail term of up to six months or a N$2 000 fine or both, says the municipality’s spokesperson, Ndangi Katoma. He told a media briefing yesterday that the new regulation, a provision of the Local Authorities Act, had already been gazetted and would come into effect immediately.However, business owners have a grace period up to the end of this year.The registration must be renewed each year.Katoma said the registration fees still had to be determined by the City Council but were provisionally set at between N$148 for non-food-related businesses and N$442,75 for food-handling businesses – whether small or large.Katoma said anyone conducting business in Windhoek without the certificate would be regarded as illegal and treated as such.Under the new law, every owner of a business in Windhoek must be a Namibian citizen or must have a permanent residence or work permit.The new regulation is seen as putting additional pressure on shebeen owners, who recently demonstrated because Police closed down their illegal operations.Shebeen owners complained that the process of registering their businesses was cumbersome and the demands one too many.Katoma urged all business owners not to wait until the end of the year when the law would be enforced, but to start registering now.He said a registration certificate for office-related work would be issued on the same day, but could take up to five days for factory-related businesses, crèches, hair salons, clubs, bars, food-preparation premises and mechanical workshops.Jan Venter, Manager of Health Services at the City of Windhoek, said owners would need a registration certificate for each of their business premises.He said Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo and Walvis Bay had already started implementing the new regulation and it would eventually be enforced at all municipalities.