South Africa: DTIC (Dept of Trade Industry & Competition) has updated MP’s on progress on the Cannabis Master Plan and its plans to tackle the ‘Grey Zone’ regulatory vacuum and rules governing cannabis edibles.

The Government has finally woken up to the ‘wild west’ reality of the South African cannabis sector and has tabled plans to begin regulating THC and its channels to market. The DTIC updated MP’s on progress on 6 March 2026 on the Cannabis Master Plan and its plans to tackle the ‘Grey Zone’ regulatory vacuum and rules governing cannabis edibles.

Key Out-Takes from the TIC Parliamentary Portfolio Meeting on how the DTIC’s cannabis commercialization policy is starting to take shape with:

·    planned urgent interim measures to regulate the “Grey Zone” through cannabis retail licenses issued by the Department of Small Business,

·    the introduction of regulations for cannabis-infused edibles with strict marketing and dosage guidelines;

·     the planned introduction of a permit system by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) to allow for non-medical, high-THC cannabis cultivation;

·    the incorporation of cannabis into the Traditional Knowledge Act, the draft regulations for which will soon be put out for public comment;

·    the announcement by the DoA that SAPS will be removed from the hemp permit application process;

·     the recent publication of the new Plant Improvement Act to accommodate the hemp sector (including the raising of the permissible THC limit in industrial cannabis to 2%)

·     the registration of two local hemp varietals: ARC CAN001 and ARC Can002 and hemp seed multiplication projects underway in all provinces;

·     the closure of public submissions on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, and the anticipated final regulations which will be put to Parliament this year to give effect to the Act;

·    the imminent removal – finally – of cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act;