The cannabis revolution should be a ‘re-orientation reminder’ that civic activism has worked in the past and will work in the future.
This is the view of Soweto Cannabis Association (SCA) Chairperson Tia Ramfate who says Soweto has always had issues of law enforcement targeting, over-policing, over-regulation and unlawful arrest. Those same problems are in renewed focus, except that this time, apartheid is not the object, cannabis is. Cannabiz Africa’s Africa editor, Jon Makoni caught up with Ramfate at the recent Police Reform Project workshop organized by Fields of Green for All in Johannesburg on 27 February 2026.
JM: Tell us about the SCA and why it was formed?
TR: The SCA is a relative newcomer on the cannabis scene, launched on 11 February 2026. However, executive members have been active in the cannabis space for some time. They include Cheeba Academy’s Linda Siboto who’s our strategy and development director and the well-known entrepreneur Michael Mabusela of 420 Central as compliance and regulation director.
One of our main targets is the problem of over-regulation. This explains our belief in the importance of advocacy, particularly education about the plant for the people who draft regulations, law enforcement and society at large.
I am an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) researcher specialising in cannabis as a natural resource who’s deeply concerned with the regulations framework. We aim to champion legacy growers and the historically-disadvantaged. This includes small-scale growers, informal traders, youth entrepreneurs and families to name only a few.
We believe the emerging industry has great potential and will be lucrative across the value chain which should be explained to the ordinary people. From processing, science, edibles, agriculture, you name it.
JM: Soweto is a sprawling neighbourhood with a population rivalling that of the whole of Botswana. How do you get everyone to work together?
TR: We’re going to be rolling out surveys, listening workshops and hosting roadshows. We will be following up on cannabis clubs that exist in Soweto to find how we can best assist in their formalisation. The same goes for growing centres, processing hubs, education services etc. We will assess what knowledge and skills exist and are needed where and in what form.
JM: Tell us a bit more about the problems of over-policing, intimidation and unlawful arrests ?
TR: Firstly Soweto is historically overpoliced. We also have police who don’t know the law. They take the little knowledge they have to go and do “targeting”. Police intimidation has driven out many legacy sellers out of business notwithstanding the trade regulatory grey zone.
So it’s a double-edged sword, we have overpolicing by people not conversant with the law taking advantage of people ignorant of it. In that gap emerges the code of bribery. Corruption has become a big problem.
JM: You also run the Afuraka Institute in your personal capacity. Tell us more about it.
TR: The Institute runs a programme for high school learners and school leavers on how to get employment and start a business among others. We had an invitation to Cape Verde rescinded because cannabis is not legislated for there. Interestingly, the Canadian Association of African Studies liked our legacy growers and historically-disadvantaged peoples emphasis and invited us for a presentation in June.
JM: Where should the conversation focus more on currently when it comes to cannabis?
TR: Education. There’s a lot of misinformation and miseducation both about the plant and on regulations. It seems people responsible for regulations are doing a cut-and-paste job from other domains’ legislations which is impacting local society negatively.
JM. Can the current wave of cannabis advocacy re-animate the community activism, Soweto is renowned for?
TR: Decriminalisation, commercialisation and education could solve a lot of problems in Soweto including alcohol addiction which has gone through the roof among the youths and Gender-Based Violence (GBV), so yes.
With cannabis well-legislated for I believe we will have less of those problems and get to a stage where “communities are communities again”. That said, cannabis advocacy is more difficult due to the stigma and perceived risks of reputational harm for activists.
However, there definitely are people out there who admire our tenacity in the face of occasional societal backlash and pushback from law enforcement.
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