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The Gibbs Business School in Johannesburg hosted a webinar on the emerging legal cannabis industry in South Africa. The virtual discussion on 25 June 2021 attended by over 170 participants, focussed on the strengths of the southern African cannabis market and where the gaps lie for budding cannabis entrepreneurs.

Co-hosted by Cheeba Africa, the webinar’s panelists were Trenton Birch (Cheeba), Sibusiso Xaba (Africa Cannabis Advisory Group), Pierre van den Hoven (Silverleaf Investments), Thebogo Thlopane (Cannabis Trade Association Africa) and Brett Hilton-Barber (Cannabiz Africa).

This is the Cannabiz Africa Take-Out on where the opportunities lie in the emerging legal African cannabis market.

A Lesotho-based cannabis cultivator and manufacturer has gained access to the lucrative European market.
MG Health, which was founded in 2017, now meets the European Union’s good manufacturing practice standards.
This allows the company to export the medicinal cannabis flower as an active pharmaceutical ingredient to the EU.
MG Health is the first manufacturer in Africa to attain this EU export certification and hopes to have its first shipment out in June.

Upon waking on the morning of 3 July 2020, South Africans were hit with the shocking reality that Julian Stobbs, a key figure fighting for the legalization of Cannabis in South Africa, had been murdered in his own house that morning during an armed robbery.

A United Nations commission voted on Wednesday 2nd December to remove cannabis for medical use from a category of the world’s most dangerous drugs, such as heroin, a highly anticipated and long-delayed decision that could clear the way for marijuana research and medical use.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will begin issuing and monitoring licences for hemp production in October.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza announced this on Thursday in her budget vote speech.
She also urged Parliament to remove hemp from drug trafficking legislation.

Grow clubs have become incredibly popular in South Africa since the decriminalization of cannabis in 2018, but are these clubs actually legal?

Grow clubs have become incredibly popular in South Africa since the decriminalisation of cannabis in 2018, but are these clubs actually legal?

The prospect of legalized cannabis in Africa, unimaginable less than a decade ago, is accelerating, driven by the potential for much-needed revenue and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Generations of Africans have faced the wrath of colonial era and morality laws surrounding cannabis use, with many involved in cultivating and selling the plant jailed, forced to operate underground, or had their livelihoods destroyed. But as governments search for more sources of revenue, this once-closed space is opening up, albeit not necessarily for smallholder growers or local consumption.

The year 2007 was a blood bath for bees in North America. About 30% to 70% of honeybee colonies collapsed.

The term “colony collapse disorder” refers to thriving bee communities that simply die from lack of food, chemical exposure, lack of water, and volatile weather conditions.

How outdoor-grown cannabis may help bring honey bee's back from the brink.

A bill to protect banks that service state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators has again been filed in the House.
With Democrats now in control of the House, Senate and White House, industry stakeholders are optimistic that the legislation stands a solid chance of becoming law this year.

In September 2018, the Constitutional Court decriminalized the private cultivation of cannabis by adults for personal private consumption. This created an opportunity for businesses to ‘privately’ grow and prepare cannabis for clients. But recent police action has nipped their operations in the bud, so they want legal clarity.

Cannabis has been around the world more times than we can count! And with this comes a rich history, so take a trip down memory lane with the cannabis plant.

Gauteng premier David Makhura says the provincial government wants to use its existing industrial infrastructure to process cannabis for medicinal and other purposes. File photo.
Image: Veli Nhlapo

COVID-19 is taking a toll on industries across the globe, and certain areas of the cannabis market are taking the brunt of it.

Cape Town – A leading law firm in South Africa is applying to the high court to set a further precedent on the legality of private cultivation, possession, and consumption of cannabis, as provided for by the 2018 Constitutional Court judgment.

Cape Town – A leading law firm in South Africa is applying to the high court to set a further precedent on the legality of private cultivation, possession and consumption of cannabis, as provided for by the 2018 Constitutional Court judgment.

Senior associate Andrew MacPherson and associate designate Shaad Vayej from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) said the firm will be representing its clients, The Haze Club (THC).

South Africa's Cannabis Master Plan looks to industrialise and commercialise cannabis to unlock economic opportunities.

The potential size of South Africa's commercial cannabis industry is estimated to be R28 billion, with the ability to create up to 25,000 jobs.

But that potential can't be unlocked until legislation is adapted.

Once that's done, small-scale farmers can get their seeds directly from the government.

And cannabis-related courses will be included in the curriculum of schools, colleges, and universities.

King Khoisan, the leader of one of South Africa's oldest indigenous communities, was detained for growing cannabis near South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's Pretoria office recently.

For the past three years, Khoisans have been protesting near the president's office, demanding recognition for their culture and language, among other things. King Khoisan has stated that his detention was a means of putting a stop to the protests and displacing the community.

According to Queen Cynthia, King Khoisan's wife, the president simply refused to engage with the community, despite the fact that all they sought was acknowledgement. "I am very cross. We’ve been here since November 2018 and Ramaphosa has never even taken a minute of his time to address or acknowledge our presence yet they now bring in police to torment us." She claims that dagga (cannabis) has been used medicinally in her society for a long time.

"This was also just their way of getting rid of us," King Khoisan remarked after being released from jail on Thursday, calling his detention a smack in the face. "But this is not going to stop. We will continue to fight because it is in our blood," he asserted.

The Khoisans are said to be the earliest people to settle in South Africa, and they were made up of two distinct populations that shared similar traditions and languages: nomadic farmers the Khoikhoi and hunter-gatherers the San.

The Khoisans are said to have been the first people in South Africa to meet Dutch settlers in the 17th century. Khoisans were enslaved or slaughtered as the Dutch began to take over land in the region, and their popularity dwindled over time. European colonists mocked the people, calling them Bushmen and Hottentots.

The Khoisans were described as illiterate, "of inferior intellect and culture," "thievish and not to be trusted," and unassimilable, according to Shula Marks' research article, 'Khoisan Resistance to the Dutch in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.'

The Independent reported in 2009 on a study of "121 distinct populations" of Africans, which revealed that they were all derived from just 14 groups. The scientists discovered that the San were the most genetically diverse group after studying the DNA of over 3,000 Africans for over a decade. This means that the San were the oldest population of humans in South Africa and on Earth.

According to Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Pennsylvania, the experiment discovered that current Africans had the most diversified DNA of any racial group on the planet, reinforcing the notion that "Africa is the birthplace of humanity."

What has been the cause of Khoisan protests since 2018?
Outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office is located, Khoisans have been protesting. With King Khoisan, a troop of Khoisans marched 1200 kilometres from Port Elizabeth to the Union Buildings.

When the group arrived at the Union Buildings, they declared that they would not leave until their demands were granted. They've pitched up camp outside Ramaphosa's office and near Nelson Mandela's statue since then.

The Khoisans wanted to be recognised as the country's first nation, and this was one of their main requests. In addition, the community has been demanding land rights and recognition as the true owners of property that has been taken from them in the past.

Despite the government's establishment of a new land reform mechanism that would allow disadvantaged communities to purchase property for agricultural purposes, the Khoisans want the government to properly transfer land to the people of the community. The community also wants Khoekhoe to be recognised as a national language.

The Khoisans are also demanding that the term 'coloured,' which dates back to apartheid, be removed from government papers and from use to characterise the country's people. Although the phrase has been identified as disparaging, the Khoisans are requesting that it be outlawed.

The Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act 3 was signed by Ramaphosa on November 28, 2019, with the goal of "to provide for the recognition of traditional and Khoi-San communities, leadership positions, and the withdrawal of such recognition."

It also mentions "kingship or queenship councils, primary traditional councils, traditional councils, Khoi-San councils, and traditional sub-councils, as well as the support to such councils."

The Khoisans, on the other hand, were dissatisfied. The act, according to King Khoisan, did little to recognise the community. "We went through a public involvement process and offered ideas about what we want, but none of our suggestions was used to change the bill." He had stated, "Clearly, the president is not ready to take us seriously and we shall continue our protest."

(First published at Indiatimes.com)

Not only does every country have its own laws regarding the use, possession, sale, cultivation, and import/export of cannabis, but often these categories too can be broken down further into medical legalizations, recreational legalizations, and even religious legalizations, each with its own set of laws concerning use, possession, sale, cultivation, and import/export.

Hopes for a High Court ruling this month on the legality of private cannabis clubs have been dashed. Lawyers representing The Haze Club (THC) are now hoping to get a court date in the first week of September 2021.