Draft Cannabis Possession And Cultivation Limits Open For Public Comment Until March 2026

“Copies of the draft regulations are available on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development website and in the Government Gazette. Members of the public and interested stakeholders are invited to submit written comments to the Department by 5 March 2026.

“All submissions received will be carefully considered before the regulations are finalised. Once finalised, the proposed limits will be submitted to Parliament for approval prior to coming into effect,” the DJCOD said on Tuesday, 3 February.

The department explained that the draft regulations propose the “upper limits for the possession and cultivation of cannabis for private use and form part of the ongoing process to implement the Act”.

“In developing the draft regulations, the Minister considered a range of factors, including what may reasonably constitute private use, the number of cannabis plants required to support such use, and relevant international benchmarks.

“The draft regulations also set out administrative and technical processes relating to the expungement of qualifying criminal records,” the DJCOD said.

Constitutional question

Some eight years ago, the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment which found that it is not reasonable and justifiable to criminalise the private use of cannabis by an adult in “an open and democratic society founded on human dignity, equality, and freedom”.

The court also declared that the relevant legislative provisions related to this were constitutionally invalid and South Africa’s law-making body, Parliament, was ordered to effect the necessary amendments.

Subsequently, Parliament gave effect to the judgment by enacting the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, 2024.

“The Act provides a regulatory framework for the use, possession, cultivation and transportation of cannabis for private purposes and makes provision for the expungement of criminal records for persons previously convicted of certain cannabis-related offences.

“While the Constitutional Court did not prescribe specific limits on the quantity of cannabis that may be possessed or cultivated for private use, it left this determination to Parliament,” the department explained.

The judgment by the Constitutional Court paved the way for decriminalisation of the use or possession of cannabis for private use by adults.

Scope

However, this does not extend to the buying or selling of cannabis.

“Matters relating to the commercial cultivation, buying or selling of cannabis or cannabis products, as well as the recognition of traditional growers, fall outside the scope of the Act and are being addressed by other government departments, including those responsible for Trade, Industry and Competition, Agriculture, and Health,” the department said.

The judgment also does not extend to persons who are under the age of 18.

“The use of cannabis by children remains prohibited, primarily due to medical concerns regarding its impact on the developing brain.

“While the Constitutional Court found in the Centre for Child Law v Director of Public Prosecutions, Johannesburg (CCT 210/21) judgment that criminalising a child for the use or possession of cannabis was not in the child’s best interests, the Act places clear responsibility on adults and criminalises conduct where an adult permits a child to use or possess cannabis or supplies cannabis to a child.

“The draft regulations and the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act are confined to implementing the Constitutional Court decision on the private use of cannabis,” the department emphasised.