The plant’s medical benefits are now irrevocably acknowledged by mainstream medicine, and the hosting of the Medical Cannabis Business Conference (MCBC) by the South African Pharmaceutical Expo (Saphex) in Sandton this week, represented a landmark moment in the development of South African medical cannabis.
That’s the view of the South African National Cannabis Association of Professionals (SANCAP) founder Juan Fourie (pictured here), who opened the MCBC at Saphex at the Sandton Convention Centre, Gauteng, on 24 March 2026.
Fourie said the event demonstrated how cannabis was “now positioned at the heart of pharmaceutical health care and not on the periphery any more”.
He said it was vital that the cannabis industry stepped up to its responsibilities of being part of mainstream medicine and to look at how it could integrate its products and services: “Integration is no longer an option, it’s a necessity”.
“Integration creates scale and scale creates competition” said Fourie, and this is why it was essential for the formalization of the cannabis industry. “Formalization and regulatory clarity are needed for us to realize our potential, otherwise it will just remain potential”.
He said SANCAP was supporting the industry by developing tangible, measurable opportunities and its main focus was for South Africa to be seen internationally as a high quality partner in medical cannabis production.
The two day MCBC event was well-attended by SAHPRA-licensees such as Rascal, Cilo Cybin, Green Pharma Wellness Choice and cultivation specialists, Hydrobiz, Gro-Hydro, Nexus Diagnostics, Atami Nutrients, Canna, Remy and Cannabis Drying.Com, lab specialists Eco-Green Analytics and turnkey solutions’ Agrimark.
A main focus of MCBC was compliance and what the industry needed to do to adapt to the South African Pharmacy Association specs (Editors note: cultivators brace yourself for more inspections and added paperwork).
While most of the attention was on the cultivation of medical cannabis for export, a start-up called Curated, launched their software to assist the local medical profession in understanding cannabis from a ‘symptoms point of view’ and were looking to sign up doctors for a pilot project.
“Saphex is a turning point for medical cannabis” said Fourie. “It’s more than a networking event, it represents the convergence of two sectors (cannabis and the pharmaceutical industry) that must start working together”.
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