From maze to map - South Africa's cannabis journey from private use to public value

By Rodney Africa, Adriano Esterhuizen, (partners) Danica Jonker and Ricky Mathebula (associates) at Webber Wentzel

Imagine a South African cannabis sector in which the law is not a maze but a map. A cultivator knows whether cultivation is for private use, hemp, medicine, industrial processing or export. A patient can access safe, tested products through an appropriate medical route. Adults, where the law permits access beyond private use, can do so through a transparent and properly controlled mechanism. Rural and legacy communities can participate in lawful value chains on terms that recognise their knowledge. Investors, manufacturers and exporters can build facilities, contracts and supply chains with confidence. Imports and exports are lawful, traceable and quality assured. Enforcement is focused, predictable and proportionate. Cannabis is treated as a plant with risks and value, not as a policy afterthought.

South Africa is not there yet. No jurisdiction has built a perfect cannabis sector, but some have made meaningful progress in certain areas. The test is whether South Africa can build a lawful system coherent enough to unlock legitimate value while managing harmful use, unsafe products, youth exposure, illicit trade and irresponsible commercial activity.

Cannabis regularisation is harder than most reform projects because it does not create a market from scratch. It must bring an established, informal and often illicit economy into a lawful, transparent and regulated framework, reconciling existing participants, entrenched supply chains and community practices with licensing, compliance and enforcement. This transition is inherently complex and the friction between the aforesaid issues is a defining feature of cannabis reform in every jurisdiction that has attempted it.

The plant, the product and the pathway

Cannabis and hemp are often referred to interchangeably, but they are not identical. Cannabis is the broader plant genus. Hemp is a form of cannabis with a low concentration of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), typically cultivated for industrial uses such as fibre, textiles, construction materials, seed, oils and bioplastics, while cannabidiol (CBD), unlike THC, is not generally associated with intoxicating psychoactive effects.[1]

This distinction matters: the applicable legal pathway depends on the product, its THC content, its intended use, the claims made about it and the licence or authorisation required.

South Africa is not alone

South Africa's legal lacuna around commercialising cannabis is not unique. Jurisdictions often move from prohibition to partial reform before they know how to build a working market, and each offers a different lesson.

The Netherlands shows how difficult it is to move from tolerance to lawful supply. Its coffee shops are tolerated cannabis retail outlets, but the well-known "front-door" and "back-door” problem means although consumers experience tolerated retail access, cultivation and wholesale supply feeding shops have historically remained outside the tolerated framework. A current Dutch experiment tests whether production, distribution and sale can sit within a transparent, traceable chain. The lesson: consumer access is only one part of legality. Without a lawful pathway for cultivation, testing and wholesale supply, the commercial core remains legally vulnerable.[2]

The United States offers a different lesson. State-level markets have generated innovation and investment, but also show the importance of managing federal inconsistency, market concentration, price compression and social equity design. Comparative work on social equity licensing shows how difficult it is to produce durable participation, and public health literature from Canada and the United States cautions that legalisation requires continuous monitoring of availability, use patterns, illicit markets and health harms.[3]

Germany has moved medical cannabis into a specific legal framework under the German Medical Cannabis Act, with authorisations issued by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for medical cannabis activity and separate approvals for import and export. Germany shows the value of moving from broad policy ambition to precise legal architecture. The lesson for South Africa: higher-value medical and export markets require legal clarity, quality systems, testing capacity and commercially credible partnerships.[4]

The African experience provides a further perspective. Zambia and Malawi have created statutory pathways mainly for medicinal, scientific, industrial or hemp-related activity, while Lesotho’s earlier medicinal cannabis licensing regime shows both the export opportunity and the practical difficulty of implementation. The lesson is that African jurisdictions are progressing through different, sector-specific pathways and that meaningful participation depends on functioning institutions, standards, finance, skills and credible access[5].

Where is South Africa today?

South Africa's current legal position is best understood through boundaries. The starting point remains Prince[6], in which the Constitutional Court protected adult private use, possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal consumption in private, without creating a general right to buy, sell, commercially cultivate, retail, import, export or otherwise deal in cannabis.

Prince protects adult private use, possession and cultivation for personal consumption in private. It does not legalise commercial sale.

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024 is intended to regulate the private-use sphere. It comes into operation on a date fixed by the President by proclamation, and draft regulations published in 2026 proposed private-use limits that are still subject to finalisation and approval.

The commercial cultivation, purchase and sale of cannabis products fall outside the private-use framework and require a separate lawful basis.

Medicinal cannabis, scheduled substances and health product claims remain linked to the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. Hemp and plant-related activity may also require consideration of the provisions of the Plant Improvement Act 11 of 2018 and applicable permits or authorisations[7].

The result is partial decriminalisation and incomplete implementation, not full commercial legalisation. It is in the space between visibility and legality that many of the toughest business risks now arise. This is not a reason to retreat from the sector, but to identify the correct legal pathway before capital, assets, supply chains and public-facing claims are committed.

The lying to get high paradox

The cannabis space has produced what may be called the "lying to get high paradox". Across the country, shops, clubs, dispensaries and wellness-style outlets present cannabis access as medical, private, member-based or compliant. Some arrangements may be carefully structured; others may be ordinary retail sale dressed up in legal terminology. The demand is real and the plant is visible, but visible commercial activity is not the same thing as legality.

The distinction matters. If a business sells cannabis for recreational use without a lawful statutory avenue, calling the transaction a donation, membership benefit, consultation or private arrangement will not necessarily change its legal character. The Haze Club case illustrates the point: the Western Cape High Court held that a commercial grow-club model could not simply rely on the private-use protection in Prince, because cultivation services were provided through a structured commercial arrangement for reward[8].

After Prince and The Haze Club, no one can assume an arrangement is lawful merely because it is described as private, collective, medical or member-based. The legal question is one of substance: what the arrangement actually does, whether payment or benefit changes hands, whether the activity amounts to supply or dealing, and whether the required licence, permit or statutory authorisation exists.

A South African pathway: Not a copy-and-paste model

The law has to hold two truths at once. Cannabis and hemp can support rural development, medical access, export revenue, product innovation and lawful investment. They can also reproduce illicit markets, unsafe products, exclusionary licensing, youth exposure and fragile business structures that collapse when tested against the law. The quality of the legal architecture will determine which future becomes more likely.

That is why a South African pathway matters. The answer is not to import an external model wholesale, but to learn from other jurisdictions and design a framework that gives investors, operators, communities and regulators a clear basis on which to participate lawfully, tailored to our constitutional order, rural economy, health system, enforcement realities, community interests and indigenous cultivation landscape.

The practical caution and the future of the cannabis economy

For businesses and individuals, the practical conclusion is simple: opportunity exists, but it must be structured on a lawful basis from the outset. A South African cannabis sector entrant should first identify the legal pathway on which the proposed activity depends. In a sector this fragmented, uncertainty should not be mistaken for permission. A lawful and investable cannabis industry will require clearer legislation, coherent regulation, institutional co-ordination, principled engagement with Parliament and regulators, and the political will to move beyond inertia.

The scale of the opportunity is massive. Recent projections indicate that the South African cannabis market is expected to generate approximately ZAR 5.5 billion (USD 318 million) in revenue. Globally, the hemp market alone is estimated at over USD 10.1 billion and projected to more than treble in the next decade..[9]

The question is therefore no longer whether the cannabis economy has value. It is whether South Africa will capture that value lawfully or continue to cede it to an unregulated market that serves neither the fiscus nor the public interest. The maze exists. The task now is to properly draw the map.

Ends…

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[1]Plant Improvement Act 11 of 2018, ss 1, 2, 9, 22 and 43 to 45; Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, s 1; World Health Organization, Cannabidiol (CBD) Critical Review Report, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, Fortieth Meeting, 2018.

[2] International Cannabis Symposium 2026, Session 1, Municipal and Local Government Management of State Cannabis Policy and Regulation, 25 June 2026; Government of the Netherlands, Toleration policy regarding soft drugs and coffee shops; J André Knottnerus and others, “Cannabis policy in The Netherlands, Rationale and design of an experiment with a controlled legal ‘closed’ cannabis supply chain” (2023) 129 Health Policy 104699, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.12.007.

[3]International Cannabis Symposium 2026, Session 7, Cannabis, Economics, Trade and Equity, 26 June 2026; Kelly L Patterson and others, Societies 14(6) (2024) 88; Beau Kilmer and others, Boston University Law Review 101 (2021) 1003; Tesfa Mekonen Yimer and others, The Lancet Public Health 10(2) (2025) e148 to e159.

[4] International Cannabis Symposium 2026, Session 11, German Draft Bill Amending the MedCanG and Alternative Proposals, 27 June 2026; Session 13, SCALE, EU GMP, 27 June 2026. Germany, Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz, MedCanG, s 1; BfArM, Medizinisches Cannabis; SAHPRA medicinal cannabis licence application material; EMA, Good manufacturing practice; European Commission, EudraLex Volume 4.https://www.bfarm.de/DE/Bundesopiumstelle/Medizinisches-Cannabis/Einfuhr-und-Ausfuhr/_node.htm

[5] International Cannabis Symposium 2026, Pan African Panel, Beyond Legalization, Strengthening Institutions, Standards, and Human Capital for a Sustainable African Cannabis Industry, Friday 26 June 2026, 1:30 PM, Programme Director Alex de Wet, with Dr Prosper Sievu, Etienne van Zyl, Alex de Wet, Robby Rorijs and Dr Neil Carrier listed as participants; International Cannabis Symposium 2026, Speakers and Programme Directors, Dr Siabula Prosper Sievu biography. See also Zambia, Cannabis Act 2021, Act 33 of 2021, long title and ss 4, 6, 7, 13 to 15 and 28; Zambia, Industrial Hemp Act 2021, Act 34 of 2021, long title; Malawi, Cannabis Regulation Act 2020, Act 6 of 2020, long title and Parts II and III; Regina M Thetsane, "Envisaging challenges for the emerging medicinal Cannabis sector in Lesotho" (2024) 6 Journal of Cannabis Research article 23.

[6] Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince; National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others v Rubin; National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others v Acton and Others [2018] ZACC 30; 2018 (6) SA 393 (CC), paras 58, 85 to 90, 100, 109 to 111 and order paras 8 and 10 to 13.

[7] Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, ss 1 to 4, 6 and 8; Draft Cannabis for Private Purposes Regulations, GN R7067, GG 54061, 2 February 2026; Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, ss 1, 4 and 5; Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965, ss 21, 22A and 22C; Plant Improvement Act 11 of 2018, ss 2, 9, 22 and 43 to 45; SAHPRA medicinal cannabis licensing material.

[8]The Haze Club (Pty) Ltd and Others v Minister of Police and Correctional Services and Others (2101/2021) [2022] ZAWCHC 269 (29 August 2022), paras 5, 65, 73 to 77 and 81 to 85.

[9] DTIC Engagement with the dtic on its role to enable the National Cannabis Master Plan: Presentation to the Joint Portfolio Committee Meeting dated 6 March 2026 Job Summit. These figures reflect publicly available data and projections as at the date of this publication and are subject to revision as market conditions, regulatory frameworks and reporting methodologies evolve.