Botswana - Get Permit or License for Street Vendors

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Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. The issuance of all Trading License, including that of Street Vendors License/Certificate, has been decentralized to the Town or District Council commercial affairs offices (local authorities’ offices); by the Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs office, which is under the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry. local authorities’ offices contact details.
2. Collect and complete the Application for a Hawker's or Street-Vendors Certificate Form A, copies of these forms are available at the inquiries desk at any of the Town or District Council commercial affairs offices across the country. These forms are not available online.
3. The applicant will be required to submit the following supporting documentation; in addition to the duly completed application form in all respect to the permit-issuing unit at the District Council office within the jurisdiction, where the Street Vendor intends to operate. Any omission of these documents will render the registration process incomplete.
   • Two recent photographs, approximately five by four centimetres in size, clearly depicting the face and shoulders of the applicant; and
   • A copy of the applicant's identity card (Omang).
4. Upon receipt of the application file, the Registrar will verify if all the necessary information and documentation has been provided and that the applications comply with the selection criteria before processing the application.
5. Applicants will be required to supplying such information as the Registrar may require and, specifying the;
   • Class of goods to be traded; and
   • Area in which he wishes to trade
6. The registrar may approve the issue of a Street Vendors license/ certificate if he/she is satisfied that the following requirement has been met;

   a)If he is satisfied that the issue of such certificate would be contrary to the public interest;

   b)In respect of a particular class of goods, if he is satisfied that the carrying on of business in respect of that class of goods would be contrary to the public interest; or

   c)In respect of a particular area or areas, if he is satisfied that the carrying on of business in such area or areas would be contrary to the public interest.

7. If approved; the applicant will be registered and the Street Vendors certificate will be drawn- up using Form C, signed and stamped by the registrar, and made available to be withdrawal by the client.
8. The applicant will be required to produce a proof of identity document and pay the prescribed certificate/license fee as mentioned under the “Fees” section of this page; while collecting the Street Vendor Certificate/license at the specific office, where the application was lodged.
9. The Street Vendor Certificate /license shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Registrar deems fit to impose in each case, and such terms and conditions or requirements shall be endorsed on the certificate.

Appeals to the Minister:
Any person who is aggrieved by the refusal of the Registrar to grant a permit, or by any terms imposed by the Registrar to grant a permit, may appeal in writing against the refusal or the terms and conditions to the Minister within a reasonable time.

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Required Documents

• Two recent photographs.
• A copy of the applicant's identity card (Omang).
  

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry
Private Bag 004
Gaborone
Botswana
Address: Plot 54380, Central Business District
Tel. (+267) 3601200
Fax (+267) 3971539
Email. [email protected]

Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs
(Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry)
Plot 54380 Central Business District (CBD) 
Private Bag 00252
Gaborone
Tel. (+267) 3911233
Fax. (+267) 3975239
Ministry contact details
ALL THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES (DISTRICT COUNCILS) ACROSS THE COUNTRY CONTACT DETAILS local authorities’ offices
Opening hours are from 07:30 to 16:30, Monday to Friday, except for public holidays.

Eligibility

Applicants should meet the following requirement to be eligible to apply;

• Be a citizen of Botswana;
• Must have attained the age of 16 years and above
• Should be unemployed, and carries on the business of selling goods from a pitch at which he stations him/herself, either in a convenient public place or upon land which he has no right to control, which business has an average monthly turnover of no more than P500 per month.
  

Fees

Certificate fee BWP 20.00.

Validity

The license/certificate is valid for two years from the date of issue and shall be subjected to renewal thereafter. However, the Registrar may modify, suspend or cancel a certificate, if the conditions of the certificate have not been complied with or if the continuing use of the certificate constitutes a danger to public health.

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

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Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

PROHIBITION OF STREET-VENDING
No street-vendor shall;

• in any area erect or expose goods for sale in any tent, booth, stall, stand or similar structure, unless approved by the Council to use, in such area, such tent, booth, stall, stand or similar structure and the Registrar has endorsed such permission on the certificate.
• Refuse, at the request of a member of the Police Force or an authorised official, to move his goods, receptacles and any other objects associated with his trade, so as to permit the Council' sanitary staff to clear any area in which he is conducting his business.
• When departing from the pitch at which he has been carrying on trade, leave behind goods, receptacles or other objects associated with his trade or leave such pitch in an unclean state.
• Carry on business except in between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
  

Required Information

• Full name of applicant
• Postal address
• Identity Number.
• Physical address
• Place of birth/date/gender
• State the type of certificate you wish to apply for (a hawker's/street-vendor's certificate)
• State Areas to be covered
• State the classes of good you wish to trade on
• Declaration by the applicant
  

Need for the Document

Any person, who wishes to carry on the business of selling goods from a pitch at which he/she stations him/herself, either in a convenient public place or upon land which he/she has no right to control, is required to be registered and have a valid registration certificate to be able to operate.

Information which might help

"Street-vendor" means a person, being otherwise unemployed, who carries on the business of selling goods from a pitch at which he stations himself, either in a convenient public place or upon land which he has no right to control, which business has an average monthly turnover of no more than P500 per month.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Botswana Trade Portal

Others

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