President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), delivered in Cape Town on 12 February 2026 made scant mention of cannabis.
In fact it repeated the exact same 14 words used in SONA 2025. The President did himself a bit of a disservice, in that there’s been a substantial shift in the forces at play in the cannabis industry since this time last year.
The Phakisa Went Nowhere Fast
The development of a healthy cannabis economy is one of the legacies President Ramaphosa hopes to bestow on South Africa. He started with all the right noises and inspired hope in the cannabis community with his The Phakisa Hemp and Cannabis Action Lab in June 2023 (ironically ‘phakisa’ means ‘hurry up’ in seSotho).
But the only thing quick about the President’s initiative (which bought together almost 100 stakeholders to forge a common cannabis vision), was how fast it fizzled out.
The only cannabis legislation the President has signed off on since then is the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024, which he hurriedly signed off the day before the 2024 elections. It was an incomplete Act in that the regulations to enforce it were not published – and have only now been released for public comment.
In the face of the reality of a robust cannabis retail ‘Grey Zone’, the Cannabis Act is all but meaningless, an unenforceable constitutional absurdity that will be overtaken by an overarching cannabis for all purposes Act within the next two years.
Following on from the stillbirth of the Cannabis Act was the President’s Health Minister going all ‘delulu’ with his ill-considered and unilateral ban on hemp foodstuff in February 2025. Although this was rescinded after howls of outrage from the public, the ban, which happened without the President being forewarned, shredded whatever trust the cannabis community may still have had in The Phakisa.
The President’s 2026 SONA was a crisis management wish list, which will be remembered more for the fact that it was delivered when Jo’burg’s taps ran dry rather than for its content.
The Pres Could Have Spun Some Good News
That having been said, the President could have capitalized on the good news that is actually happening on the cannabis reform front.
For instance, he could have spun how open the Government is to stakeholder engagement in opening up the draft regulations for the Cannabis Act for public comment.
He could also have mentioned that a draft cannabis commercialization policy is nearing completion and that an overarching new cannabis law will be put into place in the next two years that will bring order to the wildly unregulated market. It was too much to hope that he might issue a moratorium on cannabis arrests.
It would appear that the President has too much on his plate for cannabis to be any sort of priority, but SONA 2026 was a missed opportunity for him to publicize the modest advances that are being made on the cannabis legislative front.
Omnibus Cannabis Bill on the Horizon
There is movement going into 2026.
The main difference between SONA 2025 and SONA 2026 is that the DTIC, under new DG Simphiwe Hamilton, has re-organized itself and appears to be taking cannabis seriously.
In June last year, it produced a draft policy on cannabis commercialization and since then there has been informal stakeholder engagement in which DTIC representatives indicated a willingness to accommodate traditional growers, legacy cannabis communities and private cannabis clubs in new legislation.
The DTIC has made it clear that it it will put in place an ‘Omnibus’ Bill that will cover all aspects of the cannabis industry, including the establishment of a central cannabis authority in charge of regulation.
This is likely to be put to Parliament next year and will make provision for a domestic general adult-use cannabis framework. The DTIC hopes to put the draft commercial policy to Cabinet in April 2026 and thereafter release it for public comment.
There is a sense of cautious optimism in the cannabis industry that policy matters are coming to a head and that regulatory clarity is on the horizon. President Ramaphosa’s desire to leave a cannabis legacy is actually in a better place going into 2026 than it was in 2025. It still may be salvaged.
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