Cannabis in South Africa

Did You Know?

• Medical cannabis products may be prescribed for any health condition once a physician determines it could assist treatment, with prescriptions fulfilled by registered pharmacists.
• The Dagga Party of South Africa, founded in February 2009 by Jeremy Acton, advocates for cannabis users to have the same rights as tobacco and alcohol users.
• Since 2000, Cape Town and other cities have hosted an annual pro-legalisation Cannabis Walk on the first Saturday of May.

History

The first written record of cannabis in South Africa comes from Jan van Riebeeck, who ordered officers of the Voorman to purchase "daccha" in Natal for trade with the Khoikhoi. The Dutch East India Company attempted to monopolise its sale by prohibiting cultivation by Cape settlers from 1680, but the plant's wild availability and trade with indigenous peoples made the ban unprofitable, leading to its lifting in 1700. Beginning in 1860, the Natal Colony imported Indian workers, who brought cannabis and hashish consumption, blending with existing African traditions.

European authorities, concerned about worker vitality, enacted the 1870 Coolie Law Consolidation in Natal, prohibiting possession, use, and sale of cannabis to these workers. The Cape and Transvaal colonies restricted the plant as a "noxious weed": the Cape Colony prohibited it under Act 34 in 1891, the Free State outlawed dealing in 1903, and Natal regulated sale in 1908. In the Transvaal, dagga was sold openly by storekeepers to miners. White farmers cultivated cannabis in the 18th and early 19th centuries but rarely consumed it; cultivation declined later in the 19th century.

In 1921, a moral panic around dagga emerged in the Western Cape, focusing on the camaraderie that led some to set aside racial prejudices. In 1922, regulations under an amended Customs and Excises Duty Act criminalised possession and use of habit-forming drugs, including dagga, placing the burden of proof on the accused—a contrast with alcohol laws, which legal scholar Professor Chanock argued targeted black people.

Cultivation, eradication, and bio-cultural heritage

Cannabis grows well in South Africa's climate, especially in the "dagga belt" covering the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, where it is a traditional crop. It is an important cash crop sustaining entire communities in the rural Eastern Cape, which otherwise rely on a subsistence economy. Rural farmers are typically poor and produce low-quality local product for domestic lower-class consumption, while middle-class growers supply national and international markets.

Most product is consumed domestically or regionally, though increasing amounts are seized in Europe. The state has conducted cannabis eradication programmes since the 1950s, initially uprooting and burning crops, then switching to hand-held herbicide pumps in 1980, and by the late 1980s using helicopters for aerial herbicide release. In 1990, a coalition of civil society organisations in the former Natal province successfully banned the herbicide paraquat from aerial eradication.

The South African Police Service now uses a glyphosate-based formulation, claiming it poses no threat to health, though a 2016 legal challenge by Fields of Green For All and the Amapondo Children’s Project sought to stop aerial eradications. South Africa, the world's third largest centre of biodiversity, hosts Indigenous peoples and local communities who have cultivated cannabis for generations, developing traditional varieties and associated knowledge that have been bioprospected for decades.

Emerging markets

Potential growth has motivated legalisation amid South Africa's traditionally stagnant economy. European demand, particularly from Germany—the largest cannabis market in Europe—drives investor interest. The local market also offers economic growth, as the plant, known locally as dagga, has been socially accepted by many indigenous communities since the 1500s, with acceptance spreading after decriminalisation in 2018. This has increased hobby growers and small-scale farmers.

Before decriminalisation, procuring seeds was largely illegal and difficult; now, laws allowing home cultivation and a government mandate to include the poor have made certified quality seeds a necessity. Cannabis clubs, or Dagga Private Clubs (DPCs), are emerging as a sector focused on community ties, sustainable practices, and harm reduction. These small to medium-sized groups collectively grow cannabis for members' personal needs in a self-regulated, closed-loop system.

However, they operate in a legal grey area: the 2018 Constitutional Court decision legalised private cultivation, possession, and use for personal purposes, but commercial sale and distribution remain prohibited, creating uncertainty.

Decriminalisation

On 31 March 2017, the Western Cape High Court, in a case brought by Gareth Prince, Jeremy Acton, and Jonathan Rubin, ruled that laws disallowing adult use and cultivation of cannabis in a private dwelling were unconstitutional and invalid, as they infringed on the right to privacy without justification. The decision required confirmation by the Constitutional Court due to state appeals. The court ordered that prosecutions for related transgressions be stayed and that it would be a defence if use, possession, purchase, or cultivation in a private dwelling was for the adult accused's personal consumption.

The Central Drug Authority's chairperson David Bayever encouraged an appeal, citing concerns about road accidents and children's exposure. After hearing appeals in November 2017, the Constitutional Court reserved judgment. On 18 September 2018, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo read a unanimous decision: an adult may use or possess cannabis in private for personal consumption; use in public, in the presence of children, or of non-consenting adults is not permitted; cultivation by an adult in a private place for personal consumption is no longer a criminal offence. No limits were placed on quantities, and Parliament was given 24 months to implement the ruling.