Days before the May 27 general elections, marking a historic shift in South African politics as the ruling African National Congress(ANC) lost its majority after three decades of dominance, another significant change unfolded quietly: the country’s drug laws underwent a notable amendment, largely unnoticed by the public. Just one day before the landmark vote, President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, making South Africa the first African country to legalise the use of marijuana.
It means cannabis is no longer on South Africa’s list of outlawed narcotics. This implies that adults are now free to grow and consume the plant (not in the presence of children). The bill also stipulates that citizens arrested for possession of marijuana will have a clean record.
It is uncertain if the approximately 3000 people in prison for cannabis-related offences as of 2022 will regain freedom.
“[Ramaphosa] finally found his pen at last, and cannabis is no longer classified as a dangerous, dependence-producing substance in South Africa,” Myrtle Clarke, co-founder of Fields of Green for ALL, an NGO which campaigns for cannabis reform, told Al Jazeera from Johannesburg.
“Now we can move on to what to do about trade, which remains illegal.”
Compared to other countries that have legalised the plant including Malta, Canada and Uruguay, lawful acquisition has not been effected in South Africa. As a consumer of marijuana, you are expected to grow it yourself. Selling of the plant remains illegal except it is for medicinal purposes and is prescribed by a certified medical doctor.
“What the bill effectively does is if for some reason you get caught with some amount of cannabis that a policeman thinks is too much for your personal use, you can’t be charged as a drug dealer,” Clarke explained.
In summary, it is okay to have a forest of cannabis in your backyard as long as it is not commercialised.
