The Health Ministry’s draft regulations around cannabis and foodstuffs will be put out for public comment ‘soon’. That’s according to Minister Aaron Motsoaledi who has yet to explain to stakeholders why he chose a to ban substances that were already illegal and in the process wreaked havoc on the hemp industry.
11 May 2025 at 09:00:00
Brett Hilton-Barber, Cannabiz Africa
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has evaded questions in Parliament about the rationale behind the ban and why it was introduced as a blanket prohibition that included legal and illegal foodstuffs. He also avoided answering who would be in charge of compliance over cannabis and foodstuffs in the future, replying instead that draft regulations would be published soon for public comment.
He has also not yet apologized to stakeholders or the President for the millions of rand damage caused by the three-week ban, and the reputational dent it put in the country’s cannabis reform process. The ban also undermined government-funded programmes to develop hemp as a nutritional 'superfood' for school feeding schemes.
Motsoaledi also ducked the question from Action SA’s Dr Tebogo Letlape as to who would be responsible for enforcing compliance in the future, replying instead that “draft regulations relating to cannabis in food will be published for comment soon”.
Motsoaledi also dismissed the question about why stakeholders were not consulted before the ban was implemented, saying that because it was issued as a prohibition notice he had no legal obligation to consult the public.
Instead the Health Minister focused on the social harms of THC-infused edibles were causing children and that this was the reason behind the ban.
He made no mention that an estimated 1 600 businesses were affected by the ban which cost the private sector tens of millions of rand and enraged cannabis stakeholders. It is widely accepted that stakeholder outrage convinced the President to revoke the ban three weeks after it had been unexpectedly introduced.
What remains a mystery is why the Health Minister did not tell the President that he had signed off on the ban in mid-January 2025, meaning that Cyril Ramaphosa had no idea of what was about to be unleashed when he delivered his early in February 2025, saying South Africa would take the lead in the commercial development of cannabis and hemp.
Another mystery is why the Minister issued a blanket bank that included legal and illegal foodstuffs. As FGFA’s Myrtle Clarke has pointed out, that by lifting the ban, the Minister gave the public the impression that THC edibles were now legal.
Cannabiz Africa will publish the draft regulations relating to cannabis and foodstuffs as soon as they are released by the Department of Health.
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