New Cannabis Laws Coming to South Africa by 2026, But Is It Too Late?

Legal limbo continues as government delays cannabis regulations, leaving businesses and citizens frustrated.

South Africa’s long-awaited cannabis legislation may only take full effect by March 2026, nearly two years after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act into law.

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi confirmed in a recent Parliamentary reply that her department is still waiting for input from several key government bodies, including Health, Agriculture, Social Development, Police, and Trade, before the Act can be fully enforced.

“We expect this process to conclude within the current financial year, ending 31 March 2026,” Kubayi said.

What the Cannabis Act actually allows

Signed into law in May 2024, the Act allows adults to grow, possess, and consume cannabis privately. However, these freedoms remain largely theoretical, as the regulatory framework needed to implement the law is still missing.

That includes guidelines around permits, licenses, trade, and law enforcement protocols all essential for moving cannabis from legal grey area into a functioning economy.

A broken promise of progress

The delays are especially frustrating for stakeholders in the Phakisa Action Lab, a 2023 multi-sector forum that brought together scientists, traditional leaders, Rastafarian representatives, lawyers, and business voices. Their goal: to streamline South Africa’s cannabis and hemp industry.

Resolutions from that forum included:

• Removing cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act

• Reviewing the Medicines Act to enable non-medical cannabis growth

• Ensuring SAPS respects the privacy rights of cannabis users and growers

Kubayi insists the Cannabis Act already fulfills some of those goals by deleting cannabis from the Drugs Act via Section 1(2), but officials from the Department of Trade and Industry say they’re still waiting on her department to formalise that move.

It’s a classic case of interdepartmental finger-pointing, and South Africans are left in the middle.

Businesses in the cannabis space are stuck

Connor Davis, Chief Operating Officer of medical cannabis company AKOS Bio, says entrepreneurs are paying the price.

“It’s been more than two years since the Phakisa forum and over a year since the law was signed, and we still don’t have a finalised framework,” Davis said.

This uncertainty has kept the medical cannabis and industrial hemp sectors in bureaucratic limbo, with adult-use cannabis remaining undefined.

To make things worse, in March 2025, the Department of Health issued a blanket ban on all food products containing cannabis or hemp derivatives, including hemp seed oil and hemp protein powders. The move threatened 1,800 legally operating businesses, sparking national backlash.

President Ramaphosa intervened, and the Health Department withdrew the ban just two weeks later, but warned new regulations would follow.

Is 2026 too late?

With no clear rules around cultivation, trade, export, or taxation, the delays are costing South Africa jobs, investment, and innovation.

“Even BRICS will exploit us if we don’t protect our own people’s interests,” said Bongani Mankewu, director of InfraFin, referencing the broader economic context.

The country’s potential to grow a legal, ethical, and job-creating cannabis industry, particularly in rural areas is slowly being eroded by government inertia.

If the Cannabis Act doesn’t come into force until March 2026, it will mark a multi-year gap between legalisation and implementation and for many in the cannabis community, that’s a bitter pill to swallow.

Want to grow or sell cannabis in SA?
You can grow for personal use (privately).
You can’t trade, advertise, or supply cannabis without a license, which doesn’t yet exist under the Cannabis Act.
Always check for updates from the Department of Justice, SAHPRA, and Department of Health.

{Source: BusinessTech}

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