The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the GOOD Party called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene on Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s ban on cannabis-based foodstuffs, following the Health Department gazetting a regulatory update banning the import, manufacture and sale of any foods containing cannabis and cannabis products.

The notice, signed by Motsoaledi specifies that this prohibition applies to any part of the plant or component of cannabis, including sativa, indica, ruderalis, hemp seed oil, or powder derivatives from the various species or subspecies.

The DA said it strongly opposed Motsoaledi’s ban, citing the negative public policy implications and the significant economic harm the decision could inflict on South Africa’s growing hemp and cannabis industries.

The party called on Ramaphosa to reverse what it termed the “damaging regulation”, which DA spokesperson on Health Michele Clarke said disregarded public consultation and the voices of businesses and health experts.

“Instead of imposing restrictions, the government should support the hemp industry, which has the potential to boost jobs, improve public health, and drive sustainable economic development,” she explained.

She described the ban of cannabis-based foodstuffs as “reckless disregard” for sound policy.

Clarke said Motsoaledi’s actions reflected a “disturbing trend” of ignoring alternative perspectives and solutions.

She said despite the voices of businesses, farmers, and health experts calling for a rational approach to cannabis regulation, the Minister “stubbornly insists on pursuing policies that disregard both evidence and the public good”.

“…his approach to cannabis, like his approach to NHI, is to close his ears to meaningful public input and instead impose his will, without regard for the consequences,” she said.

The DA said it was concerned by the process that led to the ban, noting that Motsoaledi bypassed the required public consultation process, relying on a “dubious claim” that the regulations were needed "without delay".

“By stifling this industry with an arbitrary and ill-considered ban, Minister Motsoaledi is undermining an important economic sector. This regulation will discourage local innovation, diminish South Africa’s competitive advantage in a rapidly growing global market, and ultimately harm the thousands of businesses and workers relying on the expansion of this sector,” Clarke highlighted.

Meanwhile, GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron pointed to the absence of policy to regulate the sale of cannabis and hemp products. 

“Without policy coherence regulating sales, it becomes difficult for the likes of the Minister of Health to regulate the sale of edible products – and affords him the gap for their total ban. Not to mention that it borders on lunacy for the President to trumpet the future of an industry (cannabis’ cousin, hemp), only for one of his Ministers to ban its products which have been sold in mainstream stores for years,” he said.

Herron highlighted that the number of South Africans involved in what was presently illegal cannabis production was difficult to estimate accurately, “for the obvious reason that they are forced to operate beneath the radar”.

According to the Institute for Economic Justice, as many as 900 000 people may be engaged.

“To this number must be added the privileged few who work under the legal cover of officially awarded cultivation licences (a year ago, 102 cannabis licences had been awarded across the country, as well as 371 permits to grow hemp), the investors and staff in what are presently unlicensed shops, and an unknown multitude engaged in the production and sale of cannabis products in legal and illegal shops, and on the streets,” he said.

Herron noted that owing to a policy void, politicians and bureaucrats “of a conservative bent”, which he said included Motsoaledi, were able to throttle the industry and livelihoods to death.