Twenty five recognised community leaders from across the country, all formally mandated by their constituencies — have been registered to deliver structured statements at the Police Reform workshop which is being held at Constitutional Hill, Braamfontein, Johannesburg this Friday. The workshop will be live-streamed on You Tube and Fields of Green for All (FGFA) has called on the broader cannabis community to tune in from 10 am to follow proceedigs.
FGFA said in statement on 26 February 2026 that the the engagement forms part of the organisation’s groundbreaking Police Reform Project, Policing Post-Prohibition Cannabis in South Africa, an initiative designed to ensure that policing practices align with constitutional rights and the realities of legal cannabis use.
“Although cannabis use and cultivation for private purposes have been legalised through constitutional rulings and subsequent legislation, many South Africans continue to face inconsistent or arbitrary enforcement” says FGFA co-founder and CEO Myrtle Clarke.
“The Police Reform Project represents the first co-ordinated effort in South Africa to collaboratively define how cannabis should be policed in a constitutional democracy” she says.” Its outcomes could influence national guidelines, improve community–police relations, and prevent ongoing harm caused by uncertainty and uneven enforcement.” The initiative is supported by the Department of Criminology at UCT and the University of Bristol’s Economic and Social Research Council.
Clarke says “in the absence of clear and uniform Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within the SAPS, individuals are still being stopped, searched, arrested, locked in cages (not to mention the bribery) in situations where their conduct may be lawful.
“This disconnect between law and practice has created confusion, fear, and mistrust — particularly in communities that have historically borne the brunt of prohibition”.
FGFA says Friday’s workshop is the first major public engagement on the Police Reform Project, which aims to change the status quo by:
· Creating civil society guidelines informed by lived experience;
· Bridging the divide between cannabis communities and law enforcement;
· Co-developing legally aligned, practical SAPS Standard Operating Procedures;
· Ensuring that policing practices uphold dignity, justice, and constitutional protections
“This is not a closed-door conversation” says Clarke. “While invited and mandated community leaders will participate directly in the workshop, Fields of Green for ALL is urging all members of the cannabis community — users, traders, growers, traditional practitioners, activists, entrepreneurs, patients, and supporters — to follow the discussion live on the organisation’s YouTube channel from 10 am on Friday., 27 March 2026.
