The DTIC’s main project manager for the National Cannabis Master Plan, John Jeffery (pictured here), has made an appeal to activist Gareth Prince to reconsider the extent of his legal action against the State.
Jeffery spoke publicly to Prince at the Cheeba Summit at the Cannabis Expo on 29 May 2026, warning that his urgent application to halt cannabis arrests was in danger of derailing the Cannabis Act and would set back government’s attempts to regulate the industry.
Jeffery was speaking in his private capacity at the Summit after the keynote address by Prince, who did not hold back in his criticism of the Government’s approach to cannabis.
Prince said the struggle to liberate cannabis was similar to the struggle against apartheid, and that government, unfortunately, had to be forced into concessions.
In his address, Jeffery outlined the current legal landscape surrounding, pointing out that incremental steps were needed in bringing the cannabis industry into a regulated framework.
He said the regulations for the Cannabis Act were currently being finalized by the Department of Justice, and that even though the Act was restricted to legalizing personal use and possession, it was an important step in the reform process because it specified that other legislation could be introduced to allow the commercial trade in cannabis.
The DTIC’s draft commercial policy relied on the Cannabis Act first to be passed so that cannabis could be removed from the Drugs Act. However, all this could be derailed by Prince’s court challenge which is to be heard in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Monday, 8 June 2026.
Jeffery said that Prince’s urgent application was divided into two parts, the first being the call for an immediate halt to cannabis related arrests, while the second part challenged the constitutionality of Government’s current legal framework, essentially calling for a complete overhaul of cannabis legislation.
Jeffery said that while he supported the moral validity of part one of Prince’s application, he urged Prince to reconsider the second part which he said would prolong the current “policy limbo”.
“Ras Prince, I hope that there is an opportunity tto discuss this ahead of the court case” said Jeffery, to the SA Cannabis Development Council chair who was standing at the back of the room.
“If the second part of the application goes through, well, it’s back to the drawing board for cannabis in this country”.
Prince is yet to respond. I spoke to him earlier in the day at the Expo and he repeated his call for a mass turnout of support at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town next Monday at 9 am.
Prince, along with the Rasta Traditional Council and a group of small-scale farmers, initially bought the application to court on 14 April 2026. State lawyers, representing eight government organs, initially tried to get the urgency of the application refused, but when that failed they argued for more time to prepare. Acting Judge Mnengwana gave the state lawyers a tight schedule to submit their arguments, which will be presented in court on 8 June 2026.
READ: Prince’s Urgent Application to halt cannabis-related arrests
