There have been mixed emotions after parliament and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) approved the Cannabis for Private Purpose Bill and forwarded it to President Cyril Ramaphosa for enactment. Some role players are citing concerns regarding the restrictions on cannabis use and cultivation.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said according to the bill, there is a prescribed quantity of cannabis that an adult can cultivate and possess in private, and smoking and consumption of cannabis in public is prohibited.
What the bill entails
“The bill proposes certain limitations for utilisation, possession and cultivation of cannabis particularly in the presence of children.
“Any person who uses cannabis in a private place in the immediate presence of a child or non-consenting adult person as contemplated in section 2(2)(a), is guilty of an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R2 000,” Mothapo explained.
He added that it is an offense to smoke cannabis in a public place, in a vehicle on a public road, or in the immediate presence of any non-consenting adult person/child.
The chief executive officer and co-founder at Cheeba Africa, Trenton Birch, said the bill is a positive step forward for the cannabis industry and there is a huge improvement on earlier drafts of the bill.
The good and the bad of the bill
“The bill has been on the table for almost five years now and it means that as a South African resident, you are allowed to consume and cultivate cannabis in a private space.
“It will allow cannabis to be removed from the drug trafficking act which means it decriminalises cannabis,” he noted.
Birch said while limitations of plants and specifications on how much cannabis can be planted are still not clear, it is important to realise that a lot of stakeholder engagement is needed once the bill has been passed.
“The impact the bill has on farmers is very little because it does not allow for trade in cannabis,” he said.
According to Druids Garden chief executive officer Cian McClelland, he sees the good and the bad side of the bill but remains hopeful that it is nothing that cannot be resolved.
“It is a step in the right direction, however, it is grossly insufficient because it is purely around private purposes and this means people can consume and cultivate cannabis for their own personal use, but it does not in any way empower rural communities to get cultivation and settle into an industry in cannabis,” he explained.
Clarity needed to take industry forward
“There is a lot of effort put in handing out hemp permits and there is little consideration that goes into creating an industry. What are people going to do with all that industrial hemp,” he asked.
He believes that there has been little emphasis put into training and processes that encourage a hemp industry and there are no off-take agreements.
“There are people that are fighting for the bill to open up an industry, to have full commercialisation which is necessary, but the base is that our inyangas and sangomas have been cultivating and dispensing this medicine for hundreds of years and they have not been brought into any consideration with this bill,” he said.
“So the only way that cannabis can be traded at the moment is through the cannabis club model, which is still not 100% legal. But [it] can be pretty solidly argued in the court of law in terms of people being able to access cannabis through a non-profit cannabis club where cultivating members cultivate for other members,” McClelland added.
Meanwhile, Dinake Nongo Motona, a cannabis grower from North West, complained that the bill does not speak on the commercial aspect of cannabis.
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Affect on farmers
“For instance, if it says dealing is not legal then the question from our farmers is how do we then get the illicit to licit? Again there was no proper public participation. This will affect us as farmers and legacy dealers,” Motona said.
He believes that if the president signs the bill as it is, the cannabis community will have to go to court and challenge the bill.
“We as the cannabis community have shared our views and presented to the Phakisa Cannabis Lab and the presidential steering committee but it seems they ignore the voice of the people,” he said.
Motona said that the government should enable and support the cannabis community on the indigenous knowledge system’s (IKS) commercial research and landrace seed stabilisation programme.
“This research programme is done by the University of North West IKS centre and it is a collaboration with the cannabis industry players, traditional leadership, and farmers,” Motona said.
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