Jonathan Worby, a licensed Mpumalanga cannabis grower, told Parliament’s TIC portfolio committee on 6 March 2026, that plummeting cannabis prices internationally had put the 120 or so SAH|PRA-licensed cannabis exporters under pressure.
They were and they suffering because in the face of dropping international cannabis prices, there was no sense in exporting and they were not legally allowed to supply the local market.
Exporters Need to Be Allowed to Supply the Local Market or Go Out of Business
He said that on the other hand, the local cannabis market was experiencing rampant and excessive growth, driven by consumer demand for cannabis which had resulted in an estimated 8 000 cannabis outlets in the country. All of these outlets, he said, were beyond the regulator’s reach and were being supplied by illegal growers. Not only was this giving organized crime a foot-up into the cannabis retail sector, but users were endangered because of the lack of any kind of consumer protection.
“In the time that we have been talking about legislation, the informal sector has expanded hugely and organized crime is becoming more entrenched. If we don’t act very, very quickly, we are going to have an industry that is huge, employs a lot of people, pays a lot of rent, has a lot of agreements, but that we are unable to stop. You would require a huge police intervention to close it all down. And we all know about all the constitutional challenges that would follow.”
Align Growers and Retailers Through a Legalized Supply Chain
This is a plea” he said. “Please can we get some form of legalized supply going into legalized shops as a framework, I don’t want to say the word ‘sandbox’ as it has been over-used, but a large scale pilot project to put together traditional and other growers with retail outlets to bring some alignment on the ground”.
Worby said the ongoing criminalization of cannabis flower and seeds had led to a disparity between legal purchase and the right to grow and consume in private.
As a result, legal registered businesses were in a free fall, outlawed at home and punished on price abroad. He said struggling local SAHPRA licensees were being bullied into selling to foreign buyers because of their lack of alternative market options.
Put Retailers at the Centre of the Compliance System
Worby presented his solution to MP’s, which in its simplest form, suggested that cannabis retailers be placed at the centre of the compliance system. He said they should be responsible for registering all cannabis users – medical and non-medical – on a central data base that SAHPRA could use to fulfil its international reporting obligations.
Under his model, traditional and artisanal growers would not need licenses and would be allowed to sell cannabis flower directly to licensed retail outlets, which would be responsible for compliance.
All processed products would have to be routed to market through licensed GMP facilities, thereby providing a controlled, self-compliant network. Shops or processors that refused to comply should be shut down, said Worby, stressing that this should only be an interim arrangement until an over-arching cannabis law was put in place.
“This would give the industry some backbone” said Worby and allow authorities to regain control over the sector relatively rapidly.
Worby said no changes to existing laws would be required to implement the model which would reduce the state resources required to police the sector and encourage self-compliance.
He said the cannabis industry was crying for clarity and in general was willing to abide by fair and transparent rules.
“All we need is for permission to go ahead” he said.
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