Welcome to the World's Most Interesting Cannabis Experiment

Do private cannabis clubs (PCC’s) have a role in a regulatory framework that allows for commercial trade? Most definitely, say Harambe Solutions founders founders Brett Pollack and Marleen Theunissen (pictured here). They have been grappling with the issues surrounding PCC’s and are convinced they will play an even more important role in the future. Here they take an existential deep dive into the club zone in this Q&A with Cannabiz Africa publisher, Brett Hilton- Barber.

Community leaders in Chatsworth, KwaZulu Natal, are urging authorities to take action against the proliferation of illegal cannabis stores, highlighting concerns about public safety and the impact on local youth. They said outlets are “freely selling” cannabis products close to schools and religious organisations.

South African cannabis policy ambitions are undermined by its incompatibility with existing laws. This is creating confusion for law enforcement and risk for legitimate entrepreneurs, and nowhere is this more evident than in the legal status of private clubs. Legal strategist Charl Botha (pictured here) has written to the DTIC pointing out that the writes that the club model is already there, it just needs to be implemented. This is an excerpt from the letter sent on 17 July 2025.

Government needs to move urgently to deal with the legal ambiguity surrounding private cannabis clubs. That’s according to cannabis advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan, who writes that the concept is a valuable cannabis harms reduction tool, if only Government could see it that way.

A new initiative to unify private cannabis clubs to lobby for legal recognition has just been launched. The South African Cannabis Clubs Alliance (SACCA) says the time is critical for the private club movement to speak with one voice ahead of the anticipated release of draft regulations that will empower the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act.