City ramps up operations to combat illegal events
12 September 2021
The City of Cape Town will over the next coming weeks intensify its clampdown operations on illegal events. Over the last five months, the Events Department identified 49 planned unpermitted events through social media and tip-offs to the office.
The Events Permit Office issued a number of warning letters to event organisers over the past few months, eight of those event organisers later submitted applications for permits while five decided to cancel the planned illegal events.
During a site inspection at a venue in Salt River in June, an event organiser was found hosting an event without a permit. He was detained and fined R3500 for contravening the Disaster Management Act regulations and the Liquor Act for the sale of alcohol without having a Liquor License.
In March, another event organiser was fined R4000 for hosting an unpermitted event in the in the CBD and contravening multiple laws including the Liquor Act by serving alcohol without a liquor license.
‘The Events Permit Office has been constantly receiving complaints about illegal events and it is important that we increase our enforcement operations against these illegal events. It is especially important now, when we want to recover from the pandemic, to clampdown on these potential super spreader events who don’t comply with the regulations aimed at keeping patrons safe,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security Alderman JP Smith.
‘Another problem with these illegal events is that because they happen under the cover of darkness, without recognised regulations measures, they are a breeding ground for other illegal activity including drugs, violence and sexual assault. We do not want to close down businesses but we want people to be compliant and for the City’s residents to know that when they go to events they are going to be safe.’
The Events Department has developed Protocols for Hosting Safe Events during Covid-19, which guide event organisers on the procedures to follow to put together Covid-19 compliant events and to secure a permit. The protocols document is available on the City’s website. The protocols apply across all levels of the national state of disaster.
The Events Department urges members of the public to report any events they suspect to be illegal or unpermitted because they pose a risk to you and your loved ones.
If you come across a suspected illegal event, an advertisement or hear about an illegal event, please mail events.permit@capetown.go.za or call the City’s Events Permit Office on 021 417 4035.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
