News
Who is really going to enforce South Africa’s cannabis plant limits?
Who is really counting your cannabis plants?
When South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development quietly opened public comment on new draft cannabis regulations this week, it didn’t take long for one question to steal the spotlight. Not a legal clause or technical definition, but a blunt, very South African query that cuts to the heart of enforcement. Who is actually going to come and count our cannabis plants?
The draft regulations, published under the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024, are open for public input until 5 March 2026. On paper, they aim to bring clarity to what adults may legally possess, grow, and transport for private use. In reality, they have reopened a debate many thought was settled years ago.
What the draft rules are proposing
At the centre of the draft regulations is a clear attempt to put numbers on private cannabis use. Adults would be allowed to possess up to 750 grams of cannabis, whether in public or private. Cultivation at home would be capped at five plants per person, regardless of plant size, strain, or yield.
Transport is also addressed, with cannabis only permitted to be moved within the prescribed legal amount. Anything outside those limits could once again land someone on the wrong side of the law.
What the draft rules do not touch is just as important. Commercial growing, buying, and selling cannabis, and the formal recognition of traditional growers, all remain outside the scope of the Act. This legislation is strictly about private use.
A law born from a landmark judgment
To understand why these regulations feel contentious, it helps to rewind to 2018. That year, South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled unanimously that criminalising adult cannabis use or possession in private violated constitutional rights to dignity, equality, and freedom.
That judgment effectively decriminalised private cannabis use for adults, aligning South Africa with a growing list of countries rethinking drug policy. Children, however, remain excluded due to well-documented concerns around brain development.
Since then, cannabis has existed in a strange legal limbo. Adults are allowed to use it privately, but the details of how much is too much, or what counts as reasonable cultivation, have remained fuzzy. The new draft regulations are meant to resolve that uncertainty.
The question everyone is asking
It was this gap between law and lived reality that sparked a wave of online reaction. Myrtle Clarke, CEO of the nonprofit Fields of Green For All, addressed the cannabis community directly in a social media video, urging people to engage respectfully and meaningfully with the public comment process.
Her central concern was enforcement. In a country already stretched thin on policing resources, the idea of officers counting plants behind suburban walls struck a nerve. Her question, simple and loaded, captured the mood. Who is actually going to enforce this?
Social media responses echoed the sentiment, with many users questioning whether numerical limits make sense without a clear, realistic enforcement plan. Others welcomed the chance to finally have clarity, even if the rules feel imperfect.
Why public comment really matters here
The Department of Justice has confirmed that all public submissions will be reviewed before the regulations are finalised and sent through Parliament for approval. That makes this comment period more than a formality.
This is one of the few moments where everyday users, activists, growers, and concerned citizens can influence how private cannabis use is regulated in practice, not just in theory. It is also a test of how seriously the state takes participatory law-making in a space that has long been shaped by punishment rather than policy nuance.
A law still finding its footing
South Africa’s cannabis journey is far from over. The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act laid an important foundation by removing criminal penalties and providing for the expungement of certain past convictions. These draft regulations are an attempt to put guardrails around that freedom.
Whether those guardrails feel reasonable or intrusive will depend on how they are enforced and whether public input leads to meaningful changes. For now, the question hanging in the air remains unanswered, and perhaps that is the point. Laws may be written on paper, but their legitimacy is tested in real homes, real gardens, and real conversations.
Follow Joburg ETC on Facebook, Twitter, TikT
For more News in Johannesburg, visit joburgetc.com
Source: The Citizen
Featured Image: CannaConnection
