Tia Ramfate’s passion about cannabis, social justice and invoking legacy was on full show at ICS 2026, and came with a warning: “Legalization can reproduce inequality if not designed for inclusivity”.
The chair of the Soweto Cannabis Association and founder of the AfuRaku Foundation said that South Africa had overcome Prohibition 1.0, was now in Prohibition 2.0, and unless cannabis stakeholders seized the moment, Prohibition 3.0 would arrive at the same time as Colonalism 2.0.
She said during a presentation on 28 June 2026 at UCT’s Law School that it was clear that Africa needed to develop its own cannabis framework that allowed for a thriving community-based and commercial local market that was not reliant on exports.
Cannabis in Africa had to work for its people, said Ramfate, particularly around those communities that had been the custodians of the plant for generations. Their voice was missing in the current drafting of new regulations.
“We need to create a dialogue around legal frameworks” she said. “It’s about promoting inclusion, not unity”
She said that a re-imagined African cannabis policy should start with answering the following questions:
* Who benefits from regulations?
* Who remains excluded”
* How are Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) being protected and developed?
* How are we promoting diversity?
* How do we prevent monopolization?
* Is justice being served by the law?
“We know that community-based approaches work in Africa and we need to start creating a space within South African law that recognizes that, and a law that understands the human relationships with the plant. Cannabis is a tool for community development and rural revitalization, and the law should encourage this”.
She said community-based cannabis laws would allow for traditional healer inclusion, collective cultivation permits and local manufacturing incentives.
“Corporate monopolization of the cannabis industry is my biggest fear” said Ramfate. “But we need to band together to stop Big Pharma from taking control of the sector” she said.
We have to move beyond prohibition and commercialization towards justice as a foundation for an African cannabis industry” said Ramfate. “Africa is about communities – look at us here in the cannabis space; we are not an industry, we are a community”.
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