The Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North-West are at the forefront of unlocking South Africa’s new legal cannabis economy.  

Gauteng Premier David Makhura is actively calling for cannabis investment in the Vaal Triangle and challenging space billionaires to take SA cannabis out of this world. *

The Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency has put out a public tender for 20 000 low THC cannabis seeds to get the region’s hemp economy off the ground, while the provincial agricultural department is funding the creation of a hemp training farm near Uitenhague.  

North-West Province has called for full adult-use legalization to empower small farmers and Brits-based Farmergrowers has clinched SA’s first dried flower exports to Germany.

The Agriculture Department has empowered the provinces by publishing amendments to the law to allow farmers to grow hemp, even though the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act still defines hemp as a narcotic and empowers the police to seize and destroy the plant. Agriculture also stupidly missed the opportunity to define hemp as having 1% THC instead of the problematic 0,2% but I suppose that’s a story for another day!  It would appear that the Department of Justice  is finding itself increasingly isolated as South Africa’s provinces flex their marijuana muscles.