H3 Legal Solutions’ Charl Botha says one the most positive points to come out of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Trade, Industry and Competition (TIC), was the willingness of MP’s to engage with the private sector in commercializing cannabis.
Both the committee chair, Mzwandile Masina, and the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Ncumisa Mcata-Mhlauli, said they were keen on a focused workshop with private sector players in order to understand the implications of any new legislation.
“Team H3 remains optimistic that this commitment will be upheld, facilitating the substantive dialogue required for effective policy advancement” said Botha.
Moving from advocacy to scrutiny
Botha told Cannabiz Africa that the 6 March 2026 meeting signalled the start of a new chapter in cannabis reform.
“This engagement represents a critical transition from peripheral advocacy to formal legislative scrutiny. By incorporating our evidence-based perspectives into Hansard, we establish a foundation for accountability in the structuring of the cannabis market. With the Hemp and Cannabis Commercialisation Policy approaching Cabinet approval and the Cannabis Bill in development, this positions us to influence foundational elements of the framework” he said.
At the TIC meeting, Botha highlighted the problem that the DTIC’s mandate was industrial development through co-ordinated value chain participation. He said the cannabis framework “currently reflects upstream recognition without downstream activation”.
“The issue before this committee is not whether reform should proceed. That decision has already been taken. The issue is whether implementation will now align with industrial policy objectives in a time-bound and accountable manner”.
He said regulatory coherence would enable participation in the cannabis economy, but that to grow that economy would require “execution discipline”.
He said tabled a six point plan at the meeting to ‘secure value-chain coherence’.
“These do not introduce new policies; they give effect to existing constitutional and cabinet decisions” he said.
The 6 Steps are:
1. Revise draft regulations: complete revision of the current regulations before promulgation (30 – 60 days);
2. Publish Cannabis Bill timetable: comprehensive countdown to the new over-arching Cannabis Act so that everyone knows where they stand (30 days);
3. Gazette protected pilot or sandbox: a regulated national regulatory pilot project to ‘legitimize’ the current situation (60 – 90 days);
4. SAPS enforcement alignment directive: national commissioner to put an end to cannabis arrests(30 days);
5. Designate accountable CMP official: appoint a designated official within the DTIC (14 days)
6. Quarterly enforcement cost reporting: institute regular fiscal reporting on enforcement expenditure;
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