On May 28th 2024, South Africa became the first country in Africa to allow its citizens to use cannabis for recreational purposes without the fear of arrest and prosecution. The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, officially signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act into law on the eve of the general election. Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second full term as president on June 19th, despite failing to secure a majority in parliament in last month’s election for his African National Congress (ANC) party.
Those who wish will now be allowed to grow and consume cannabis as long as they are above 18 and are not using it around children. The new change also allows those with criminal records for possession of cannabis to have their convictions wiped from the record.
Campaigners welcomed the news they have waited years for, although many have pointed to what they say is a “huge hole” in the legislation. Currently, the new Act does not provide any framework for South African cannabis consumers to purchase the plant legally, the only way to obtain it legally under the new law is to grow it at home.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Myrtle Clarke, co-founder of cannabis NGO Fields of Green for ALL said, “[Ramaphosa] finally found his pen at last, and cannabis is no longer classified as a dangerous, dependence-producing substance in South Africa, now we can move on to what to do about trade, which remains illegal.”
“What the bill effectively does is if for some reason you get caught with some amount of cannabis that a policeman thinks is too much for your personal use, you can’t be charged as a drug dealer,” Clarke explained.
Consumers have in recent months been buying their dagga – the common South African name for cannabis – from the array of grey-area dispensaries, or ‘private member’s clubs’ as they are often labelled that have sprung up across the country.
Also speaking with Al Jazeera and from Fields of Green for ALL, Charl Henning commented on these semi-legal smoking clubs, “These dispensaries are everywhere in South Africa. They’ve mushroomed up in the last six months: there’s been more clubs and shops opening than ever before, they’re literally saturating the market, and now they don’t have a law to arrest them on.
“Trade is everywhere already. We just need to regulate it.”
Recent times have seen Malta and then Germany legalise adult-use cannabis in Europe, and in Africa, we are likely to see other countries follow in South Africa’s footsteps. Both Swaziland – traditionally the biggest supplier of cannabis to the South African market – and Mozambique are reportedly making moves to shift away from ‘colonial-era’ laws surrounding cannabis and other narcotics.
