The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024 (CfPPA) is unlikely to be fit for purpose in 2025.  It is probably one of the most badly crafted pieces of legislation to come out of the Sixth Administration, and when it finally does become law, it will serve little purpose in the face of prevailing reality.

The CfPPA was signed off on 28 May 2024 as one of a last minute flurry of executive orders, just hours before the general elections. Cannabiz Africa understands that the President came under immense pressure to show that some progress had been made in cannabis reform and put pen to paper in appeasement rather than with purpose.

The main hold-up to the Act being gazetted into law lies with the Ministry of Justice, which is tasked with coming up with the regulations that would give the CfPPA its teeth.  A year later, these regulations are nowhere to be seen.  A further delay is that the President, in the wake of the cannabis foodsdtuff ban furore, promised stakeholders that no new regulations pertaining to the industry would be passed without their input.

He specifically included public comment on the draft regulations for the CfPPA.  The Justice Department says these will be issued ‘soon’.  But whatever input is received from the public is largely irrelevant.  The CfPPA does not allow a commercial framework for the trade in cannabis and related products, but paves the way for future legislation to do so. It therefore will have no impact on the unregulated market.

The most contentious point in the draft regulations is likely to be the limits to plant ‘home grows’, but one could say that the initial enthusiasm for growing one’s own has been tempered by the sheer choice of cannabis available from the ‘Grey Zone’.

The main issue around the CfPPA for the cannabis industry is that as soon as it becomes law, the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act falls away for cannabis related offences. Cannabis offences under the New Act will then be governed primarily by the Medicines Act in terms of ‘dealing’, but will also be subject to tighter restrictions under the Road Safety Act.

One year on, after being rushed through in the twilight of the Sixth Administration, South Africa’s only law relating to cannabis remains in the proverbial legislative parking lot.  There is no indication of when it will see the light of day, although the DTIC told the Cannabis Master Plan Steering Committee last month that it’s a priority project.

And even when it finally becomes law, there’s a probability that it will be legally challenged as some clauses pay short shrift to the Constitution.

A month ago, Fields of Green for All (FGFA) and the South African Cannabis and Hemp Industry Development Association (SACHIDA), wrote to Parliament asking for an urgent update on the status of the CfPPA.

Any news yet? Nope, just radio silence.

The Cannabiz Africa perspective: The Cannabis Act, if it comes into law, will be short-lived. The crucial legislation required is a set of regulations governing the commercial trade in cannabis, and the DTIC’s main focus is to get a draft framework of these rules out for comment. The CfPPA will be remembered for removing the Drugs Act from cannabis offences, highlighting the absurdity of plant limits, and being a waste of everybody’s time and money, before falling by the wayside in the next 18 months.