Phahlane puts police on dagga high alert

THINK twice before planting a dagga bush in your garden or smoking a spliff in your home.

Acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane has written to subordinates around the country advising them to keep arresting dagga users even though the High Court in Cape Town ruled last month that the criminalisation of dagga infringed on the constitutional right to privacy.

Judge Dennis Davis ordered parliament to amend legislation within 24 months, and said anyone charged with private dagga use or cultivation could use his judgment as a defence in the meantime.

But Phahlane’s memo to divisional, regional and provincial commissioners says the lodging of an appeal on Monday against Davis’s ruling meant the high court judgment no longer applied.

Before the judgment could be effective, it would need to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court, he said. “Until further notice, the enforcement of the relevant legislation must continue without change.”

Police spokeswoman Major-General Sally de Beer refused to comment, saying the memo was for internal circulation only.

In a letter to all directors of public prosecutions, National Prosecuting Authority deputy director Thoko Majokweni said: “[We] will enforce the still-existing legislation.”