The last time Jakarta-based Sean Hocking (pictured here) was in Cape Town was as schoolboy awed by the natural beauty of the landscape. Now he’s awed by the manner in which the international cannabis industry is falling deeper under the control of multinationals, and is returning to Cape Town as organizer of the International Cannabis Symposium 2026.
The local partner hosting the event is Fields of Green for All (FGFA), which is deeply involved in an initiative to engage with SAPS in changing its cannabis arrest policies.
ICS has a ‘people first’ approach to cannabis policy and is shaping up to be a counter-force to the dominance by the First World in formulating the rules of the game. rules. This Q&A between Brett Hilton-Barber and Sean Hocking.
BHB: What is significant about ICS as opposed to other cannabis conventions, and the highlights of this year’s event?
SH: The International Cannabis Symposium is the only event on the global cannabis conference schedule that looks at cannabis and hemp policy/regulation/legislation from a human rather than capital perspective.
We are looking to engage global discussions and solutions led by the global south and non-aligned nations rather than the exclusive North American & European conversations we see at other events.
The symposium is primarily a festival of ideas and dedicates all its energies to discussion rather than being a sales event with a few panels tacked on.
BHB: Why Cape Town as a location?
SH: As South Africans are very well aware Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Our venue UCT law school is one of the most respected law schools not just on the continent but globally, these two factors are very attractive to our international speakers and delegates. Locally people are aware of the strong cannabis and hemp infrastructure building on the Cape. It all makes perfect sense to hold an internationally focussed event in the city
BHB: You’ve encouraged public participation in the event, how can ordinary people make a difference?
SH: We believe that it is ordinary people with passion and desire that will move things forward with regard to cannabis and hemp and in the forthcoming years. We want to highlight those voices not just in South Africa but globally. I myself am just an independent journalist with no secret backer and decided over a decade ago to start covering cannabis and law because nobody else was going to.
My partner in the symposium, Atiyyah Ferouz is the same, she started her standards and compliance business from nothing and built it up herself. Neither of us are connected to the big end of the cannabis industry and have no desire to be. We would like more people like ourselves, whatever their skills may be, to also enter the space and help engender change.
BHB: What are your desired outcomes from ICS 2026?
SH: In short to build on our South African and African networks a process we started in 2025 but our priority in 2026 to connect like minded people in law, policy, business, health to connect globally so that we can build a network that contributes to forthcoming events that we are holding in Australia, the Asia Pacific, UK, Canada and South & Central America.
BHB: The ICS has interesting post-conference excursions that highlight SA cannabis culture and cultivation – do you think there is a viable canna-tourism industry in the making here?
SH: I do think with a little concerted effort South Africa is a perfect place to build cannabis into the existing tourism ecosystem, both for local tourists and international visitors.
There are a myriad of ways this can be done but local operators and government must first work together to find something that works within the country’s regulatory system.
At the moment the lack of communication and coordination is severely hampering the opportunities for growth. A starting point is events like ICS that can map out the possibilities and create policy that works for operators, local communities and regional and national government.
BHB: What is your perspective on what’s happening on the cannabis policy and reform front in SA?
SH: The law and the legal system works, I would suggest, better than most countries, to outline a framework for workable systems.
But unfortunately government departments seem incapable of developing workable plans that can then be put in place to ensure a fair and equitable approach to cannabis and hemp in South Africa.
From the outside it looks like both internal and inter departmental politics and lack of desire is creating a stasis where the grey and black markets just keep on building. The longer this state of affairs stays in play without serious application of thought by Pretoria the harder it will be, in the future, to untie that ever tightening gordian knot.
It is also worth mentioning that SAPHRA need to engage more than they currently are with those who don’t operate in the well-funded pharmaceutical space.
BHB: What would you say SA’s biggest challenge is in developing a coherent cannabis policy framework?
SH: Per above, the lack of serious desire by central and provincial governments with South Africa to identify the various strands of the cannabis and hemp sector and provide enshrined regulatory solutions that make it clear what can and can’t be done.
This issue is by no means consigned to South Africa it is a global problem that needs to be tackled.
Administrations within South Africa, as with many other countries, need to look at policy solutions that allow all who work in cannabis and hemp to get equal and fair access.
I don’t have the answers but we want the International Cannabis Symposium to be the place where people start asking the questions so we know what questions we ought to be asking in order to be able to provide sensible solutions.
BHB: To what extent does SA mirror global regulatory trends – both good and bad?
SH: The issues are remarkably similar worldwide and South Africa is no better or worse than many other countries when it comes to tackling the cannabis and hemp regulatory conundrums, of which there are many.
I would argue that South Africa actually has a head start on many other jurisdictions simply because of the agreed right of privacy Constitutional Court decision as well as the general tone of one of the world’s best envisioned constitutions. It gives the country somewhat of a head start if the current administration actually decides it wants to run with it.
What the country initially needs is a standalone regulatory body with political clout and a desire to enact change that works for people first and then business.
It has to be a body that cannot be hampered by the existing political maneuvering of the various Pretoria departments who each seem to have carved out a little bit of cannabis/hemp to themselves and then sat on that without actually knowing what to do next.
In conjunction there ought to be discussions that allow for devolving more decision making to provincial, city and local government to work solutions for cannabis and hemp that benefit communities and provide solutions that work regionally.
In some cases that might mean less cannabis engagement in certain parts of the country but local democracy and politics should have a bigger say and administrations and business should abide by that.
ICS 2026 on Why This Event Matters
Across the world, cannabis and hemp policy remains fragmented, uneven and often disconnected from the realities of business, patients, communities and enforcement. ICS 2026 focuses on the foundations needed to create credible, equitable and workable systems, particularly in emerging and developing markets.
Key themes include international cannabis law, regulatory frameworks, cross-border trade and compliance, social justice, equity in policy design, and the role of developing nations in the global cannabis economy. (Fields of Green for ALL)
Date: Thursday 25 June to Saturday 27 June 2026
Venue: University of Cape Town, School of Law
Theme: Back to Basics: Creating Foundational Policy & Law for Equitable Global Cannabis and Hemp
Website: icscapetown.com
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