South Africa occupies a unique position in the rapidly developing legal cannabis market. With a government that seeks to legalize and develop the cannabis and hemp sectors as a sunshine industry and a private and community sector desperately willing to engage, this should be a match made in heaven. Yet the country finds itself in a regulatory quagmire with market forces, both legal and illegal, now in control. Cannabiz Africa is your front row on the torturous journey towards a regulated adult-use commercial market.
The development of a cannabis commercialization policy is one of the DTIC’s priorities going into the new year and the Department is working with the SABS to develop standardized guidelines for the packaging and labelling of cannabis products for general retail and medical cannabis purposes.
East Rand Vape shop House of Clouds owner Mohammed Karolia (pictured here) is reportedly on the run owing over R40 million to a former business partner who obtained a far-reaching court order freezing all his bank accounts on 18 December 2025.
One of the most contentious issues right now is the continued application of apartheid-era policing by SAPS which continues to arrest and harass people for cannabis offences. FGFA has launched a bold project to change SAPS from within and is urging cannabis communities to make their voices heard in this regard at a workshop planned for February 2026.
The DoA has signalled that it is open to engaging with stakeholders who have raised concerns about the recently published hemp regulations under the Plant Improvement Act . The first of such meetings has been scheduled for the end of January 2026 between the Registrar of the Plant Improvement Act and a delegation led by Charl Botha of H3 Legal Solutions.
Health authorities have long been warning of the drugs crisis unfolding in South Africa with heroin and cocaine use up sharply. The situation has now reached a point where South Africa now has the most pervasive synthetic drug market in Africa.
Labat has announced the retirement of co-founder and director Brian van Rooyen (pictured here) after 30 years of service. This follows the group’s sale of Cannafrica and the mothballing of its remaining cannabis assets as it moves into the fintech space. Van Rooyen’s retirement marks the end of an era, but not necessarily the end of his cannabis ambitions.
Every cultivator’s first priority should be to purchase high quality genetics with a high ROI. This is because the seed you select can make or break your commercial operation. Still, selecting the best seed can be overwhelming due to the extensive seed inventory on the market. Africa editor John Makoni did some digging around and here’s his checklist for buying genetics.
Limpopo’s ‘farmers first’ cannabis policy has gained rapid traction this year, thanks to the efforts of the Limpopo Hemp and Cannabis Farmers Association, which has wrapped up a year of action by launching its Capricorn branch and a pilot project to test ARC’s first locally developed hemp seeds.
The South African Cannabis Club Alliance (SACCA) has announced that key cannabis stakeholders have united to present a solution to the legal cannabis conundrum facing South Africa as the country moves towards adopting a commercialisation framework. The Project Indlela plan seeks to incorporate legacy growers, cannabis clubs and government into a regional hub model that allows trade in cannabis while protecting consumer safety.
SAPS has no mandate to be an agricultural inspector and its involvement in the hemp permit process is unconstitutional, impractical and unnecessary. That’s the view of H3 Solutions’ Charl Botha who says this provision should be urgently withdrawn.
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