John Jeffery (pictured here), fondly known as ‘JJ’ by those in the cannabis community with whom he had dealings, messaged Cannabiz Africa on 26 August 2026 to say that he’d resigned but gave no further reason.
The news came as a shock to stakeholders gathered at Kempton Park for the National Cannabis Dialogue the following day as Jeffery had made significant headway in convincing the private sector to work with the government in cannabis reform and not against it.
He took part in both the Cheeba Summit at the Cannabis Expo and attended the ICS 2026 conference in Cape Town a month later, often being the sole voice representing government in a room of critical stakeholders, even though he was technically an advisor. Jeffery actively engaged with stakeholders at all levels, and his although his private views often aligned with theirs, he would plead for patience in the reform process, pointing out the complexities of getting eight government departments to work together.
He is also believed to have been instrumental in persuading Gareth Prince and other applicants to step back from their urgent Western Cape High Court application to halt cannabis arrests and negotiate directly with SAPS. Jeffery also felt strongly about ensuring legacy farmers were included in the new cannabis legislation.
Jeffery’s departure leaves a large gap in the DTIC’s recently-established cannabis unit, which is tasked with putting together a cannabis commercialization policy. It also robs stakeholders of their ‘go-to guy’ in discussions around cannabis policy.
This is a developing story, and will be updated as more details emerge.
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