Gauteng taps into dagga to create work opportunities
THE Gauteng government has turned to dagga for new jobs and economic opportunities.
Its Agriculture Department has issued an invitation to private groups to submit proposals to implement the Gauteng Cannabis Industrialisation programme.
“The objective of the programme is to unlock economic opportunities and job creation through cultivation and processing of hemp and cannabis at an industrial scale,” said the department’s proposal.
It said the potential partners should submit proposals on industrialisation plans that the provincial government is already activating.
Gauteng has emerged as one of the provinces taking advantage of the national drive to turn dagga into a multibillion-rand industry.
The national strategy for the industrialisation and commercialisation published in 2021 estimated that the industry was worth R28 billion.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development developed the strategy after studying the major cannabis industries, including in the US, Canada, Mexico and China.
It said the establishment of the cannabis industry will lead to diversification of the economy, “and thus increase economic growth, create jobs and alleviate poverty” in South Africa.
In his State of the Nation Address in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the hemp and cannabis sector has potential to create over 130 000 new jobs. “We are therefore streamlining the regulatory processes so the hemp and cannabis sector can thrive like it is in other countries such as Lesotho,” he said. “Our people in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere are ready to farm with this age-old commodity and bring it to market.”