The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says the two and a half year delay in publishing the draft regulations for the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, has been detrimental to cannabis users.
It has welcomed the Justice Department’s invitation to the public to make submissions on the draft regulations, saying that Rastafari and other cannabis communities have “been left at the mercy of subjective discretion by law enforcement when policing the use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis”.
The SAHRC said in a statement on 5 February 2026: “During this public participation period and until the Act comes into force, the Commission once again calls on members of SAPS to observe the Directive issued by the National Commission of Police on 23 August 2023, titled Arrests by the South African Police Service for Cannabis–Related Matters.
It says this directive directed members of SAPS not to arrest private users and cultivators of cannabis since “there is also no legislation that allows for a presumption of dealing where cannabis quantities above a certain threshold is found in the possession of a person.”
“The harmful effects of this unrestrained discretion on the Rastafari community are documented in the SAHRC’s The Rights of Rastafari Roundtable report, released in November 2025.
“The report also reflects the extent of arrests made by the South African Police Service (SAPS) against cannabis users since 2018, the year when the Constitutional Court effectively decriminalised adult private use of cannabis, as shown in the statistics presented by SAPS representatives to the SAHRC.”
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