Eastern Cape Premier: ‘If you don’t see hemp as the future, your head is buried in the sand’

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Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has committed R4,5 millon towards developing a hemp industry in the eastern Cape. He said hemp could be the Eastern Cape’s future and those who didn’t see how it could create new industries and jobs were “burying their heads in the sand”, according to a report in the Daily Dispatch on 30 April 2021.

The report said the province’s agriculture MEC Nonkqubela Pieters said plans were afoot to fully tap into the cannabis industry.

“The department is working with the department of public works to transform Lusikisiki College into a cannabis college.

“In the 2021-22 financial year, the department allocated R4.5m to develop the cannabis industry,” she said.

Premier Mabuyane: committing R4,5 m towards developing E Cape hemp industry

Pieters said the department was spearheading the development of the cannabis industry by providing production inputs to 26 hemp permit holders in the province. The government was also trying to assist five existing hemp holders to get their permits renewed.

The National Cannabis Master Plan (NCMP)  envisages that the issuing and regulation of hemp cultivation and research licenses be transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). Cannabiz Africa understands that DALRDD has already begun renewing hemp permits and is working on a broader hemp policy framework.

E Cape says hemp is the future

The hemp policy focuses on the Eastern Cape as a hemp agri-processing hub to try and persuade the hundreds of thousands of illegal cannabis growers to switch crops.