Cannabis in South Africa

South Africa's cannabis rules rest on a court judgment rather than a commercial licensing system. In September 2018 the Constitutional Court ruled in the Prince case that adults may use, possess and cultivate cannabis in private for personal consumption. Parliament's response, the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, was signed in May 2024 and gazetted on 3 June 2024, but it only takes effect on dates the President proclaims, and it was not yet in force in September 2026. The Department of Justice published draft regulations on 2 February 2026, with comments due by 5 March 2026; the drafts proposed limits of 750 grams in private and five plants.

What the Act and the court do not allow is trade. Selling cannabis remains a criminal offence, so the many "dispensaries", delivery services and private members' clubs that sell THC flower operate in a high-risk grey zone. The Western Cape High Court case brought by the Haze Club did not settle the question, and an appeal was withdrawn. Verdex does not list these businesses.

The legal commercial channels are narrower. SAHPRA licenses cultivation and export of medicinal cannabis under Section 22C of the Medicines Act; its public register listed 106 licence holders in September 2026. Because no cannabis flower product is a registered medicine, patients get THC products through a doctor's Section 21 application for an unregistered medicine; clinics quote consultation fees from about R700 to R750 and monthly product costs of several hundred to a few thousand rand.

CBD is split by strength. Since May 2020 CBD has been a Schedule 4 substance, but complementary medicines with no more than 600 mg per pack and 20 mg per daily dose, making only low-risk claims, are treated as Schedule 0 and sold in pharmacies and health shops. Industrial hemp is grown under Department of Agriculture permits, and from 1 December 2025 the THC ceiling for hemp leaves and flowering heads rose from 0.2% to 2%.

Driving while under the influence of a drug with a narcotic effect is an offence under the National Road Traffic Act, and the 2024 Act adds an express reference to THC once it commences. Smoking in public is not protected. This page is general information, not legal advice.