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.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is gravely concerned about the allegations made by KwaZulu Natal police commissioner that senior police and politicians are involved in drug dealing cartels. This comes after Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mhwanazi (pictured here) accused the Minister of Police of protecting criminal elements by dismantling a specialized investigative team.
SAHPRA says its refining its regulatory framework as the South African cannabis landscape evolves. That’s according to its 2025/26 Performance Plan (undated) in which it wants to improve its systems and technology, address patient access issues and regulate product standardization..
It’s been six years since Zambia legalized cannabis for export but the country has struggled to get the sector off the ground. It’s now handed the matter over to the army and senior officers were recently in South Africa on a cannabis reconnaissance mission.
Four years on, the National Cannabis Master Plan remains dead in the water and no sight of success in getting an integrated cannabis economy off the ground. It should be scrapped and replaced by a consumer-driven health and safety framework that allows commercial trade.
South Africa’s ‘medical cannabis ambassador’, Dr. Shiksha Gallow, is on fire — and the world is taking notice. From Puerto Rico to Costa Rica, Australia to Italy, this East London trailblazer is rewriting the narrative of cannabis in medicine and putting Mzansi’s research firmly on the global stage.
Charl Botha of H3 Legal Solutions argues that South Africa is facing a growing mental health crisis that is putting strain on the system. He says cannabis is a plant that been used for centuries for its therapeutic benefits its use should be integrated into the country’s framework for dealing with psychological disorders.
Heavyweight Boxing legend Mike Tyson has created a US$50 million cannabis empire that has made a huge impact on the US industry. Now his product is appearing on the shelves of South Africa’s cannabis retail ‘Grey Zone’. Obviously it’s a rip off, but it’s reportedly selling like hot-cakes.
Dr Green attempted to launch its medical cannabis service and ‘token’ investment scheme in South Africa earlier this year, but that fell apart when the company’s CFO, Ricardo Capone (pictured here), fled the country under mysterious circumstances. Now it seems Dr Green’s international operations are coming under scrutiny from several quarters, and it could all unravel further.
South Africa is heading for a policy collision in trying to balance the Cannabis Master Plan against the country’s Drug Master Plan, each of which view cannabis from very different perspectives. Unless the policy contradictions within these two plans is resolved,, cannabis reform will be fundamentally undermined.
Most participants in the cannabis industry don’t have the capital to mainstream themselves according to current rules and regulations which favour those with deep pockets. Nexus CEO Johan Slabber says he’s developing a compliance model to integrate smaller growers, informal operators, and emerging dispensaries into a formal, sustainable value chain that leaves no one behind.
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