South Africa's New Cannabis Regulations, Explained

If you've caught headlines this year about South Africans being "allowed up to 1,500 joints," that's the draft Regulations under the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act doing the rounds — and there's a fair bit of confusion in the mix, because the Act itself is actually already law. We dug through the government's own notices alongside a stack of legal and news coverage to get a straight answer on what's confirmed, what's still up for debate, and what it means for members like you.

Wait, isn't this already law?

Sort of, yes. President Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act in May 2024, which put the Constitutional Court's 2018 ruling — the one that decriminalised private use and growing your own — into proper legislation. But signing an Act isn't the same as switching it on. Big parts of it only come into force once the President formally proclaims them, and that's exactly what these new Regulations are setting the stage for.

The Department of Justice put the draft Regulations out for public comment on 2 February 2026. This is the fine print — the actual numbers, transport rules, and the process for clearing old convictions — that will decide how the Act plays out in practice. Right now it's still a draft, and there's no confirmed date for when it kicks in.

So what's actually being proposed?

• 750 grams — the proposed possession limit, in both private and public places. Commentators have rounded that to roughly 1,500 half-gram joints, or about the weight of a standard loaf of bread, to make the figure tangible.
• 5 plants — the proposed cap on cannabis plants an adult may cultivate at any one time in a private place, regardless of the plants' size or strain.
• Transport rules — the same 750g limit applies on the move, but cannabis has to be concealed from public view (boot, trunk, or an enclosed storage compartment) and can't be handled or displayed in transit.
• Expungement — certain past cannabis-related convictions aren't automatically wiped; a clearance certificate has to be obtained from SAPS and a formal application filed with the Department of Justice.

What they haven't figured out yet

A few questions are still genuinely open in the public drafts:

• Is that 750g measured wet or dry? Matters a lot if you're weighing freshly harvested plants.
• How do extracts, oils, vapes and edibles get counted — because a gram of concentrate clearly isn't the same thing as a gram of flower, but the draft doesn't spell out the conversion.
• Does the 5-plant limit apply per person, per room, or per property? If you've got more than one adult growing in the same house, this one actually matters.

Why any of this matters beyond the numbers

This is landing against the backdrop of a sector that's already bigger than most people realise. South Africa's hemp and cannabis industry employs more than 90,000 people, SAHPRA has handed out 120 medical-cannabis export licences, and the Department of Agriculture has issued 1,408 cultivation permits. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau told Parliament the formal industry is worth around R14 billion, with government chasing 10% annual growth from there — though we'll be upfront that other figures have floated around Parliament too (R10 billion here, R28 billion in "formalised potential" there, R36 billion for the illicit market), and even local commentators have pointed out that nobody's quite reconciled them yet. Ramaphosa put it simply in his 2025 State of the Nation Address: "We want South Africa to lead in the commercial production of hemp and cannabis." On the policy side, the dtic's Hemp and Cannabis Commercialisation Policy is due to reach Cabinet and public comment by April 2026.

We'll update this post as things move from draft to final. And if you'd rather have the plain-language version talked through over a visit than read it off a screen, come find us — that's genuinely what we're here for.

This article is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Regulations referenced here were in draft form as of publication and may change before finalisation — always check the current Government Gazette or consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.