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.
It’s now just a matter of time before a commercial framework for trading in cannabis and related products becomes legal in South Africa. Already thousands of new cannabis businesses have opened their doors in anticipation of a change of law. Regulations and legality aside, here are seven tips from across the Atlantic on how to set up a successful cannabis operation.
Philasande Mahlakata (pictured here) is the face of Village Divah Organics, a household name in oil-infused cosmetics and health products in the Eastern Cape. But where does the name come from and what’s her story?
South Africa’s fledgling cannabis industry is beset with increasingly sophisticated scams, the latest being an ‘announcement by SSETA, a state funded entity, that it is launching a training and certification for cannabis dispensary professionals. Sadly, this is not the case, and it’s yet another group of con artists on stage in the theatre of the absurd in the ongoing drama of cannabis reform.
The Minister of Health has appointed a new board for the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority with Dr Thapelo Motshudi becoming the new chair and Dr Glenda Gray (both pictured here) as his vice. CEO Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela remains in her position.
The Department of Small Business Development and the CSIR have partnered to pilot projects for small SME’s to produce medicinal cannabis and hemp for commercialisation. They are looking for an expert to pull together three years of research on beneficiation into an action programme.
The DTIC says it has begun “preliminary consultations” with a few unnamed industry stakeholders over its draft cannabis commercialization policy. Yet it has not yet officially released the policy for public comment, raising concerns about who exactly is the DTIC talking to, and why isn’t it being more transparent about the consultation process.”
Technically, no-one should be charged under the Drug Trafficking Act for cannabis offences as the Cannabis Act of 2024 specifies this. However, KwaZulu Natal SAPS have charged a man under the Act after arresting him during a raid on a ‘cannabis and magic mushroom’ storage facility on the Bluff in Durban.
A large contingent of KZN law enforcement officers descended on a ‘vegetable farm’ on Wednesday and discovered a five hectare field of cannabis. They seized a large amount of cannabis, and arrested 14 people linked to the farm, among them foreign nationals.
Leading law firm CDH has published its own road map towards cannabis commercialisation and one of its suggestions is that high THC products should be taxed at a higher rate than other cannabis products. It says this would incentivize the development of the CBD market and discourage consumers from buying potent – and potentially dangerous – products.
It’s not only SAPS that’s in crisis. Correctional Services is also facing its own major dilemma: that criminal networks have turned South Africa’s jails into their branch offices. This has emerged after a week of surprise prison raids in the Pretoria area recently, in which its clear that a lot of crime in the outside world is being masterminded from behind bars.
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