It’s almost a year since President Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act and yet it is still not law. Shortly before last year's general elections, the President put his signature to paper, bringing a law into being that had missed the Constitutional Court deadline to do so by over five years!

However, the Act has not been promulgated into law because the Justice Department has not published the regulations that would enforce the Act, dragging out even further it's Concourt requirement to pass legislation recognizing a person's constitutional right to consumer cannabis in private.

The 12 month delay has prompted two stakeholder organizations to write to Parliament to find out why. 

Fields of Green for All (FGFA) and the newly formed South African Cannabis and Hemp Industry Development Association (SACHIDA) have written to the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development (which has replaced the sixth administration’s Justice and Correctional Services Portfolio Committee which approved the Act) to find out what’s taking so long to get the Act across the finish line.

They also want to know what’s happening with the public consultations about the regulations as “required by South African law.”

In a letter to Committee secretary, Mr Vhonani Ramano, dated 7 May 2025, entitled 'Update request: Progress with the regulations needed for the promulgation of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024', requesting an update on proceedings, the organizations write:

It has been 344 days, almost a whole year, since our President signed the above law, yet the regulations required for this law to take effect have yet to be promulgated for public comment. We understand that various government departments – Trade, Industry & Competition; Agriculture; Health; Small Business Development; among others – have been tasked with managing the process of establishing a bona fide Cannabis Industry in South Africa.

Along with our Affiliate Companies, Expert Academics and Academic Institutions, Local Affiliate Organisations, Affiliated Dagga Private Clubs and ordinary members, we have attended numerous meetings where stakeholders have repeatedly outlined plans to address the most important issues facing the use, cultivation and trade in the Cannabis plant & its products in South Africa.

However, we are hearing the same story over and over again: Nobody can proceed to transform this sector as it remains in a “crisis of illegality” without the attendant regulations.

We have had sight of the minutes of the Cannabis “Steering Committee” meeting dated 25 April 2025 and, yet again, the proceedings list many actions that are being promised but, without action on the part of the Department of Justice, this will remain another meeting held in vain, wasting our time.

There is endless talk of how progress with Cannabis and Hemp will contribute to the well-being of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable communities in our country. None of these communities can benefit without the promulgation of regulations in order to avert this crisis.

No amount of meetings and plans will negate the fact that the current situation is causing great harm to ordinary citizens and it is only the Department of Justice that can remedy this. Areas of grave harm are continuously being brought to our attention by our members:

1. Continuing arrests, arbitrary detention and harassment by the South African Police Service. This has been highlighted by the South African Human Right Commission in recent meetings with ourselves and members of the Rastafari Community, who are disproportionately affected by police action. This constitutes a grave Human Rights abuse and the SAHRC, a Chapter 9 institution, is notably concerned. The SAPS Directive issued in August 2023 is largely ignored.

   
   

2. The presence of many unlawful businesses in the Cannabis sector is facilitating the abuse of employees, as well as placing the general public in a vulnerable position with unregulated products being sold freely. There is also large-scale corruption at play as we have evidence of businesses bribing the SAPS on a regular basis, as well as using nefarious paperwork to justify their open trade in Cannabis.

   
   

3. Facilities licensed by SAHPRA continue to flood the unregulated market with Cannabis produced under license, meant for export. This is the real reason for our legacy rural farmers being disenfranchised and SAHPRA continues to turn a blind eye. This fact was brought to the attention of the Justice Portfolio Committee during deliberations over the CfPPA when it was still a Bill going through the public consultation process, yet it was ignored.

   
   

South African Cannabis Communities have been kept in the dark by the Department of Justice for too long now. We were told in December 2024 that the department was waiting for legal opinion around the regulations.

How much longer must we wait with no communication or updates from the department? All this waiting exacerbates confusion, enables nefarious operators, promotes corruption and undermines the rule of law in South Africa.

We ask that the Department of Justice provides us with an update as a matter of urgency. As always, we are ready with our recommendations for light touch, enforceable and Constitutionally sound regulations that will benefit ALL South Africans and end this perpetual cycle of harm caused by the current “crisis of illegality”.

We thank you in advance for your prompt reply in order to communicate with our constituency.

Regards,

Myrtle Clarke (Managing Director, Fields of Green for ALL)

Katlego Kgapotse (Chairman, SACHIDA)

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