South Africa now has its first cannabis law. An imperfect one, but a law nonetheless, which allows adults to consume cannabis in private and grow an unlimited number of plants at home. Although it will remove cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, the commercial trade of the plant and related products, remains illegal. Private cannabis clubs remain in a grey zone.

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CfPPA) was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 28 May 2024, just hours before the polls opened for the general election. He therefore narrowly averted the Cannabis Bill being sent back to the drawing board for the new administration to deal with.

The new Act is long overdue as the Constitiutional Court in its landmark 2028 cannabis ruling gave Parliament two years to translate the court’s decision into workable legislation. Now, over five years later, Parliament has finally come up with one of the shoddiest pieces of legislation ever. The Act is riddled with contradictions and will be difficult to enforce.

The enactment of the new law will therefore open up a new front in the ongoing cannabis lawfare that has characterized the long and winding road towards legality. Activist organization Fields of Green for All (FGFA), which long opposed the Bill, switched its stance to support the Bill in order to take it on in court.

The Cannabis Act envisages a number of other acts being amended, notably the Drug Trafficking, Medicines, Road Safety and Plant Improvement Acts in order to develop the “industrial cannabis sector”. This highlights the Government’s desire to drive the “hemp” and medicinal cannabis export sectors, while kicking the full legalization of adult-use consumption into touch.

Cannabis did not feature as an election issue in the May 29 general elections, with only the minority, KZN-based Inkatha Freedom Party, mentioning it as a job-creator in its election manifesto.

Although the Presidency’s The Phakisa project appears to have fizzled out for the time being, there might be new vigour in the country’s seventh administration to pass an over-arching piece of legislation governing the commercialization of cannabis. 

Stakeholder after stakeholder have pointed out time and again that a job-creating, all-inclusive, revenue generating cannabis economy will not get off the ground unless there’s a law that allows for cannabis and related products to be traded.

Until such time, most of the estimated R28 billion the South African cannabis industry generates, will remain in the hands of criminal organizations, and millions of rands of investor funds will stay tied up on the sidelines. This is highlighted by the dismal revenue from the cannabis sector for the fiscus: only R6,3 million in 2021/22!

However, there is hope on the horizon. In February this year, Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo indicated that government hoped that the non-commercial legalisation bill would serve as a jumping-off point for legislators to enact more robust regulations to support the establishment of a cannabis market in the country.

Much of the groundwork for a new cannabis law has already been done by non-government lawyers, with the draft of a proposed new draft circulating in what has bee called the Webber Wentzel report. If this was debated and adopted by the incoming Justice and Portfolio Parliamentary Committee, it would provide real traction to getting a comprehensive law into place governing all aspects relating to cannabis.

How other media have covered the Cannabis Act

Business Day: Cyril Ramaphosa signs cannabis bill into law on eve of election

News 24: Ramaphosa's last gift: 'dagga decriminalized' ahead of the elections

Marijuana Moment: South African President Signs Marijuana Legalization Bill Into Law

#