SA to allow outdoor cannabis cultivation as Eswatini lags behind
MBABANE - As Eswatini continues to debate the Cannabis Bill endlessly, South Africa (SA) is taking giant steps to use cannabis to boost its economy.
SA President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening, stated that the government in 2022 had committed to unlocking investment in the hemp and cannabis sector.
He said SA was moving to create the enabling conditions for the sector to grow.
The president added that the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development and the Department of Health would address existing conditions for the cultivation of hemp and cannabis to allow outdoor cultivation and collection of harvests from traditional farmers.
“This will unlock enormous economic energy in the rural areas of the country, especially in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga,” said Ramaphosa.
He revealed that urgent work was being finalised by the government to create an enabling regulatory framework for a whole plant, all legitimate purposes approach for complimentary medicines, food, cosmetics and industrial products, aligned to international conventions and best practices.
Police
Ramaphosa said this included the reprioritisation of departmental budgets for sector development and support for traditional, black farmers and the alignment of South African Police Services enforcement with regulatory reforms.
Despite that Eswatini is one of the continent’s largest producer of cannabis, local farmers are unlikely to benefit from it.
This is because in Eswatini, it is illegal to be found with cannabis, to transport or to grow it.
One is expected to have a permit though the law does not make it possible for a person to acquire same.
Also, it has been gathered in previous reports that nearly 100 per cent of cannabis grown in Eswatini is transported to SA after harvesting.
SA also doubles as the exit point for the cannabis which ends up in Europe, Australia and the United States of America (USA).
Attempts were made to reach Saladin Magagula, the President of Eswatini Cannabis Association, but his phone rang unanswered.
However, previously, Magagula also noted the need to have cannabis legalised. He said this would provide an opportunity for other products such as medicines or cosmetics.
He also lamented that the intended legalisation of cannabis had taken very long such that even Lesotho had beaten us to it.