Townhouse complexes may no longer forbid the use of cannabis by owners or prevent them from growing their own plants. That’s according to the Community Scheme Ombud Service (CSOS), which has released a directive that is in line with the pending Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 2024 that allows adults to consume cannabis in private.
Community schemes, which include flats, co-operative housing developments and lifestyle estates, are obliged to register witrh the CSOS. Among the other new guidelines is that animals may only be slaughtered on such premises only under the strict supervision of the SPCA, domestic workers cannot be forbidden from talking to other and complex managers may not slap arbitrary fines on owners.
The directive, issued in July 2025 can be read here.
Grant Smee, CEO of Realty Property Group told News24 on 29 September 2025 that the directive creates a single reference guide for administering community scheme governance. Previously, decisions on issues like the consumption of cannabis were administered on an adhoc basis and often contradictory.
The 200 page directive, which replaces the term ‘illegal’ in scheme contracts, offers unprecedented access to information held by estate managers and does not allow them to take the law into their own hands in fining owners for ad-hoc transgressions.
It specifically references cannabis: “A rule that seeks to restrict the use and growth of cannabis is undesirable. The use or possession of an adult in private for an adults personal consumption in private is permissible”.
The directive, which aligns township complex schemes with the 2018 Concourt Ruling and several other amended laws, makes no reference to any limits for home grow.
The directive also upholds the constitutional right to slaughter animals in one’s one home but lays out stringent guidelines as to how this may be done.
The CSOS guidelines affect a significant number of people. There are over 50 000 sectional title schemes in South Africa made up of over 2 million homes in which an estimated five million people live.
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