The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is preparing to resubmit the National Cannabis Master Plan to Nedlac which will includes provision for the legal trade in cannabis. The NCMP was last put to Nedlac five years ago by the Department of Agriculture, but it was rejected because of a lack of consultation outside of Government and the absence of a clear commercial framework. The DTIC has remedied that in its draft proposal to rebuild the NCMP into a workable strategy and has laid out the steps below as a guideline to getting a new over-arching cannabis law onto the statue books by early 2027.
The new law is intended to reflect Government policy of cannabis being a driver for economic upliftment rather than a response to a court decision, ala the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024 (which is yet to be gazetted into law). The DTIC envisages extensive stakeholder consultation before the anticipated law comes into effect.
This is the DTIC’s timeline:
ACTION STEPS
TIMELINE
Draft policy discussion document is prepared and submitted to DG for approval
2025
Presentation of the policy discussion document to EXBO
2025
Presentation of the policy discussion document to EXBO
2025
Presentation of the draft policy to different clusters, Nedlac for comments, inputs and review
2025
Draft policy discussion document is finalised and presented to the Minister for approval.
2025
Preparation of a Cabinet Memo for Minister for the presentation of the draft policy document to Cabinet for approval
2025
Introduce policy to Parliamentary Committees.
2026
Publication of the approved policy document for stakeholder comments including workshops and other public consultations.
2026
Development of a draft Bill in terms of the policy.
2026
Seek Cabinet approval of Draft Bill.
2026
Publication of Bill for public comments including public hearings, workshops and other consultations.
2026
Evaluation, consolidation and incorporation of the comments received from stakeholders
2026
Preparation of revision instructions to legislative drafters.
2026
Revision of the policy document and the draft Bill
2026
Certification by State Law Advisors
2026
Produce revised policy document and the draft Bill and submitted to Minister for presentation before Cabinet for approval
2026
Introduction of the draft Bill into Parliament
2026
Parliamentary processes, involving presentation before portfolio committees, NCOP and other committees of Parliament including conducting of parliamentary hearings.
2026
Adoption of the draft Bill and submission to the President to be assented into law
2027
Publication of the Law in the Government Gazette.
2027
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