This report fro IOL News, 29 July 2023.

Durban - In light of the city’s Cannabis Expo this weekend, a local organisation aims to use the opportunity to educate and inform young people about how to get into the cannabis industry by offering training.

Deputy Secretary General Sbusiso Zwane of the Lynette & Peter Zwane Foundation said the organisation was inspired by tackling the unemployment and poverty crises in the country.

Zwane said, “Our aim is to bring innovation to our communities and we have identified that cannabis is exactly one of those many solutions that will change communities for the better. This then took us on a journey where we are now running a NQF LEVEL 4 Production and Cultivation of Cannabis training course. After a brief time, we then further discovered that the cannabis industry has potential but no real clear entry point. This then inspired us to translate our content into indigenous languages - starting with isiZulu - and all other official languages to follow. Very soon, our communities can bring new innovations to the industry.”

He added, “We have been on a relentless pursuit to form strong partnerships with various private and public organisations with the aims to bring economic growth in our communities such as factories, textiles, and health products; and services in our communities to create jobs and economic revitalisation.”

The organisation started in August 2019 and he said that they hope to tackle this problem through strategic partnerships and formidable collaboration - through Ubuntu.

Zwane confirmed that the foundation will be involved in the Cannabis Expo 2023 to promote the value and untapped value in rural and indigenous communities in addition to creating new relationships and partnerships to grow together.

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