Sekunjalo chairman and owner of the Independent Media group, the controversial Dr Iqbal Surve, (pictured here) says President Ramaphosa’s decision to open up cannabis policy for public comment allows South Africa the opportunity to establish an ‘international best practice’ industry.

He says although the South African cannabis industry is in its ‘foundation stages’, it is “well positioned to play a pivotal role in African and BRICS+ cannabis markets, fostering trade partnerships and advancing agri-tech innovations”.

BRICS+ consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with newcomers Iran, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Egypt and the UAE joining in 2024.

Writing in IOL News, on 27 March 2025, Dr Surve, said President Ramaphosa’s retraction of the cannabis in foodstuffs ban was a positive ‘cannabis legal reversal’.

“This reversal underscores the need for thorough public engagement before introducing regulatory changes, ensuring a balance between public health priorities and the economic growth of South Africa’s cannabis industry and serve as strong models for the BRICS+ bloc" he wrote.

Dr Surve said that while cannabis remained illegal in most BRICS+ countries, there was precedent within the bloc.

“For the BRICS+ countries, Brazil was the first to decriminalise cannabis in 2006 for personal use and medicinal use accompanied by a prescription. The second on the list of BRICS+ countries to legalise cannabis was South Africa in 2018 permitted personal usage for adults and home cultivation with no possession limit. In India cannabis usage is illegal, however it is widely used and culturally tolerated in some regions.”

The Cannabiz Africa view: At a glance, cannabis does not appear to be an intuitive way to foster closer trading ties between countries that are so ideologically opposed on legalization. A more practical approach is the one proposed by Dr Zorodzai Maroveke who suggests southern Africa try and form a common ‘cannabis regional bloc’ from a regulatory and marketing perspective. But before we get ideas above our station, let’s develop an international best practice cannabis framework first ahead of any grandiose thought of marketing anything of policy value to the rest of the world!