Report s acceptance a sign of progress for EC cannabis farmers
Six-hundred Eastern Cape cannabis producers came a step closer to getting government support after a development report on the sector was accepted.
The 600 are struggling to obtain licences to enter the formal cannabis market.
The Eastern Cape executive council welcomed the preparatory work and finalisation of the terms of reference for the provincial cannabis strategy and business plan.
On Monday, Mvusi Sicwetsha, spokesperson for premier Oscar Mabuyane, told the Dispatch they were busy converting and developing Lusikisiki college into a cannabis college. The provincial department of rural development & agrarian reform was also assisting farmers to apply for hemp and marijuana licences.
In July last year, the Cannabis
Development Council of the Eastern Cape (CDCEC) hosted a high-level cannabis summit at the East London International Convention Centre where the provincial government threw its weight behind the cannabis economy and its huge potential spin-offs.
Mabuyane said they could no longer bury their heads in the sand on the issue of the cannabis economy. He said the CDCEC had been at the forefront of negotiations with the government to ensure the effective rollout of cannabis development by focusing on legislation, tourism, and farming.
At the time of writing, the CDCEC could not be reached for comment.
Sicwetsha said the provincial government was involved in the development of national and Eastern Cape cannabis master plans.
The executive council believes that the draft cannabis bill has gaps that might undermine what we are trying to achieve. We will engage the national government through consultation processes.”
University of Technology lecturer Unathi Sonwabile Henama, who is an advocate for the cannabis economy, commended the provincial government for wanting to grow and beneficiate the green gold ”.
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Henama said the demand for cannabis grew each year, and provinces such as Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal together with Lesotho and Swaziland were in line to be major players as they already grew cannabis. The poorest of the poor who “produce cannabis have not been able to derive maximum economic benefit from the existing system of licensing for hemp and marijuana,” said Henama.
The provincial department of rural development must be commended for identifying 600 farmers who would be assisted in applying for hemp and marijuana licences.”
Henama said the Lusikisiki cannabis college would equip growers with skills for growing cannabis and for beneficiation which would increase the value of the product.
Assistance of government agencies such as the CSIR [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research] can further strengthen the college and the beneficiation aspect.
Utopia for the cannabis industry would be when cannabis can be sold for recreational use, so that taxation can be levied, considering that our country faces high debt levels and rampant poverty.
The recreational use of cannabis can unleash cannabis entrepreneurship that would make unemployment and poverty a distant memory in SA.
Henama stressed that Mabuyane had to lobby both as premier and as an activist within the ANC for changes to be made allowing the recreational use of cannabis.
He already has a worthy ally in KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala who is promoting cannabis agriculture.
The national general council of the ANC is fertile ground to seek the legalisation of recreational use and sale of cannabis to unleash green gold as an economic recovery miracle for SA.
The executive council believes that the draft cannabis bill has gaps that might undermine what we are trying to achieve