Government bans weed brownies and other edibles in South Africa

The National Department of Health has gazetted a regulatory update banning the import, manufacture and sale of any foods containing cannabis and cannabis products.

The notice, signed by health minister Aaron Motsoaledi, specifies that this prohibition applies to any part of the plant or component of cannabis, including:

Satvia, Indica, Ruderalis, hemp seed oil, or powder derivitatives from the various species or sub-species.

Any person who sells, imports of manufactures foods containing these prohibited substances will be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine or imprisonement upon conviction.

The noitce comes as many small cannabis busnesses took advantage of the fairly recent changes to South Africa’s cannabis laws.

Presdient Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill into law in May 2024, ahead of the national elections, decriminalising private cannabis use for individuals.

The laws allow for the cultivation of a specified quantity of cannabis plants, possession of a prescribed amount of cannabis and the use of cannabis for private individuals.

The laws are signed, but not currently in effect, awaiting an appropriate regulatory framework in which to operate.

Despite this, the Act is a net positive for private persons who wish to consume cannabis in private, but it does leave the country in somewhat of a grey area when it comes to cannabis as an industry.

Notably, while it allows private users to consume cannabis, the sale of cannabis is still forbidden.

In January 2024, changes were made to the Medicines and Related Substances Act to de-schedule products containing THC—the chemical that makes you ‘high’—opening a path for use in more than just medical products.

According to cannabis attorney at Cullinan & Associates, Paul-Michael Kiechel, the changes to the medicines Act, and removing the policing of cannabis from under the ambit of the drugs Act, points to the government perhaps seeing a more open market for recreational cannabis use.

However, the Health Department’s regulatory shift appears to be moving counter to this.

South Africa can’t make up its mind

The hemp and cannabis community has criticised the department’s move as being counter to global trends and actively harming existing, legitimate businesses.

While the sale of THC has always been illegal, the new regulations put a prohibition on hemp seed oil, or powder (flour) which were not previously criminalised.

The regulations also fly in the face of the government’s stated intentions to turn cannabis into a multi-billion rand industry in South Africa.

The government’s National Cannabis Master Plan was published in 2021, and promised to be a game-changer for the economy with the potential to create over 130,000 jobs.

Cannabis plans have come up time and time again in state of the nation and province addresses, and the president himself has talked up the possibility.

However, the Cannabis Act currently imposes significant restrictions on the legal cultivation and commercial trade of cannabis.

Legal experts have noted that there are also still numerous loopholes, grey areas and legal implications for those who violate the Act, as well as issues with definitions—such as what constitutes a private space—that make the path ahead uncertain.