Dr Simon Howell, head of the centre of Criminology at UCT and an active player in the Police Reform Project, has persistently pointed out how legacy cannabis communities have been marginalized by cannabis reform, even though they are the intended beneficiaries.
To date, the only cannabis licenses issued by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority are in terms of Section 22 of the Medicines Act, which allow medical cannabis for export only.
Because licenses are issued only once facilities have been completed, the system is deeply skewed towards Pharma companies and agribusinesses with deep pockets, locking out the estimated 900 000 legacy growers and hundreds of unlicensed grow ops serving the burgeoning retail ‘Grey Zone’.
Licensing to be the next primary point of contestation in the cannabis industry
Speaking on 702 Talk Radio recently, Dr Howell said: “The licensing system is essentially the biggest part of the contestation around whether cannabis production is open to locals or open to rural farmers, because that licensing system costs money and the licences are quite expensive – and there’s quite a lot of technical expertise needed to obtain those licences.”
He said it all came down to establishing a set of licensing regulations for the domestic cannabis market as not all cannabis grown in South Africa was suitable for export.
“If you’re going to export it then cannabis is subject to a whole raft of regulations and trade technicalities… so while it’s possible to grow, it’s very difficult to export.
“If it stays in the local market, then what are you going to do with it? There’s been a rapid growth in outlets selling cannabis-related products… but an extraction process is required to move a raw product into something that can be put into a cream or the like… that takes technical expertise and money.
“Local farmers need to be able to get their product into the market without having to jump through too many regulatory hoops” he said.
Lack of clarity on a domestic cannabis market is causing confusion
Dr Howell, said the the lack of legal clarity around decriminalisation had led to inconsistent policing of the cannabis sector.
This point was highlighted during the Project Indlela legacy community stakeholder webinar on 2 December 2025 where it emerged that despite the diversity of legacy cannabis communities from growers to township entrepreneurs, rural communities and Rastafarians, there was resolute agreement on two fronts: they want an immediate end to police harassment and the right to trade freely.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about business” said Marijuana Board of South Africa (MBOSA) leader Thabo Makwetla, “people want to make money out of their knowledge of cannabis”.
Snoux Phosa of the Township Incubator Project in Mthatha said most legacy communities want to be compliant but there is no system to be compliant with.
That is the nub of the problem and the regulatory vacuum has created widespread confusion about licensing.
MBOSA is dispensing certificates to its members under the Traditional Healers Act, and although Makwena insists they are legally recognized, this is not the case. Many particpants were under the impression that SAHPRA was issuing ‘dispensary’ licenses.
Ultimately Government sees the establishment of an overall Cannabis Regulatory Authority – probably a Section 9 institution – that will oversee all matters related to cannabis and hemp. But that is probably three years away, and in the meantime, the DTIC, which is the lead ministry in the Cannabis Master Plan, has to grapple with the hard questions of who is issuing who with which license to do what and how.
Maybe it’s time to rewrite the definition of cannabis from an African perspective
Project Indlela project co-ordinator and SACCA spokesperson, Albertus van Jaarsveldt, says the webinar delegates agreed that the whole current regulatory approach was problematic and needed an overhaul to include legacy growers and traditional healers .There was a consensus that the proliferation of “Grey Zone’ cannabis outlets, many allegedly claiming to be ‘Section 21 dispenseries”, was coming at the expense of rural communities.
“Cannabis must stop being regulated under the Medicines and Related Substances Act, as this medicalised framework is inappropriate for traditional, cultural, and adult-use cannabis practices” he said.
“The country must steer away from a scheduled-drug, pharmaceutical, corporate, Westernized model, which concentrates economic power and creates barriers to entry”.
Regional hubs are a possible licensing solution
One solution may be in the regional hub model which was also discussed at the webinar. In simplistic terms, the hub consists of a processing centre which is responsible for all compliance measures and is the primary licensee, which then provides offtake from traditional growers who will not require licenses.
The licensing issue is going to dominate the cannabis debate going into 2026 when a commercial cannabis policy gets tabled. How government handles this issue will determine whether cannabis reform becomes a war zone between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, or whether there will be a level playing field that accommodates legacy communities in a reglated domestic market.
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