Concerns over delays in the mandatory process of licence renewals at SA Revenue Service during November and December have prompted Cape Town traders to approach the provincial red tape reduction unit.
According to a spokesman for the Cape’s Port Liaison Forum, an initiative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the city, the unit which functions under the auspices of the local department of economic opportunities will take up the matter with Sars.
“Licensing with Sars under the current legislation is still a manual process that is very time consuming and inefficient,” a clearing agent, who did not want to be named, told FTW. He said the company required four licences to operate which meant four sets of documents that all had to be individually certified. “This is a pack of documents and they are exactly the same, bar one number which is the customs code,” he said.
The licensing process has to be done in person at the local customs office, but as the office only processes five applications per day, companies like these are often only allowed to apply for two licences per visit, meaning that someone has to dedicate three working days just to apply for the licence. “That is just the way that it works and one can’t argue. It is very dependent on who is behind the desk and what mood they are in,” he said. According to a spokesman for the Red Tape Unit, these are sentiments echoed by many traders and their agents in the city. What is also concerning is that the office only processes five applications per working day.
Considering that November only has 22 working days and December 18, only 200 importers, exporters and clearing agents can be licensed timeously. One company representative said they had been fined R10 000 on January 2 for trading without a licence. This after visiting the customs office several times during December the previous year only to be told that the five applications for the day had been completed.
“We just never got to the front of the queue,” he said. According to the PLF the Red Tape Unit is already in conversation with Sars officials. “We are hoping to be able to supply the documentation electronically so that the supporting documents can be processed more efficiently and to allow for more licences to be processed.”
A Sars spokesman told FTW that the average daily intake of applications was 15-20 with a rejection rate of 5-8 per day due to clients not having correct documents or incorrect completion of forms.
“Once our team accepts these from the client, we submit them to the Alberton hub. This deals with all applications presented on a daily basis,” the spokesman said. “Of late, we have been receiving compliments on our quality service and in addition to this, management contact details are displayed on the notice board for external clients’ convenience should they experience poor service.”
"The average daily intake of applications is 15-20. – Sars
"Licensing with Sars under the current legislation is still a manual process that is very time consuming. – Industry Source
