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 has arrived back from his travels abroad to confront the most serious crisis in the police force since the then Police Commissioner Jacky Selebi’s conviction on corruption charges two decades ago. Among the allegations he must resolve is the accusation that senior officials are involved in transfrontier drug smuggling.
The Justice Ministry has finalized the regulations for the Cannabis Act, but still needs feedback from six other departments – and the Presidency – before they can be published for public comment. This emerged in a written response to a Parliamentary question in which the Justice Minister said the regulations would be finalized within seven months but did not specify when the Act would come into force.
South Africa’s hemp industry is fragmented and in dire need of standardized cultivation practices. Over half the country’s hemp farmers say they’re held back by a lack of training and standardization, according to the University of Tshwane, and these issues need to be resolved if the industry is to grow.
Public trust in the South African Police Service (SAPS) is at an all-time low – and that isn’t even taking into account the recent ‘corruption war’ that’s broken out in the upper echelons of the service. A new study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has found that only 22% of South Africans ‘strongly trust’ the police.
The sheer volume of cannabis seized in South Africa’s jails suggests that Correctional Services’ facilities are hotbeds of ‘dagga dealing’. The DA says this is evidence that DCS staff are colluding with certain inmates and external suppliers in dealing in cannabis on an industrial scale.
This year’s prize for South Africa’s top dagga-dealing jail goes to Thohoyandou Medium B, Limpopo, where inmates, warders and suppliers put their differences aside in a display of outstanding team work to win the 2025 Correctional Services Cannabis Cup.
Correctional Services is dismantling a ‘dagga dealing network run out of Thohoyandou Facility in northern Limpopo, where a stunning 42,3 tons of cannabis was seized within the prison walls last year. The Department says it found cannabis packaged and waiting to be distributed in the prison management area and confiscated routers and cell phones allegedly used by inmates operating in collusion with staff and service providers.
Stellenbosch University analytic chemists have come up with the first evidence that a rare class of phenolics, known as flavoalkaloids are present in the leaves of Cannabis sativa. Phenolics are compounds known for their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and before this world-first discovery, science was not aware these rare compounds existed in cannabis.
Mpondoland cannabis activist and entrepreneur Philasande Mahlakata says South Africa’s indigenous landraces are languishing in a low price bracket and face a bleak future unless Government intervenes with purpose. Despite assurances they are a key part of the National Cannabis Master Plan, the reality on the ground is that a legacy resources are being neglected.
The initiative launched three weeks ago by the South African Cannabis Cub Alliance for private clubs to work together to lobby for legislative inclusion, has resonated through the community. Already 19 major club groupings and service providers have pledged their support for SACCA, which has created an online platform as a campaign hub.
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