Cannabiz Africa
Justice Dept: ‘We Thought About It, But Sorry, No Special Cannabis Dispensation for Rastas’
The Justice Department had intended to give Rastafarians special dispensation for cannabis use in the Cannabis Act, but dropped this after legal advice. This was revealed by a senior state lawyer at the National Cannabis Dialogue who said that it would be against the constitution to make a special case for Rastafarians.
2026/09/03
John Makoni, Africa Editor
A top Justice Ministry official has revealed that an early draft of revamped Cannabis Act regulations contained an exemption for Rastafarians but that it had to be rescinded after legal advice pointed to the equality clause in the constitution.
“We know that it’s taken too long [to publish the regulations]. Parliament directed us to consult with the Rastafari community and we then exempted Rastafarians,” said senior State lawyer Makubela Mokulubete, speaking at the National Cannabis Dialogue in Kempton Park on 27 August 2026.
He said after receiving advice that the exemption would not pass constitutional muster because it would prejudice other minority communities, it had to be reversed.
This news topped a day of disappointment for many Rastafarian delegates, who were hoping for some indication that police would back off arrests. Rastafarian communities, particularly in the Western Cape, have long been at the forefront of SAPS victimization because of their sacramental beliefs around cannabis.
The National Cannabis Dialogue was evidence that authorities have not budged since the February 2025 SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) organised a Rastafari Roundtable in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. Rastas came away empty-handed from the Roundtable meeting with SAPS and NPA officials, who refused to entertain a moratorium on cannabis arrests. That is still the case.
The Rastafarian Traditional Council was one of the applicants in the Gareth Prince urgent Western Cape High Court application to halt cannabis arrests. Although the application was lodged in April 2026, court procedures have bogged the process down, and the applicants agreed to negotiate with state lawyers at their insistence.
If no progress is made before 15 September 2026 in getting a halt to arrests, the case will return to court, Prince told Cannabiz Africa. Prince says the Rastafarian community rejects many of the precepts behind the Cannabis Act, particularly plant and possession limits.
At the Dialogue, Mokulubete was drowned out by disapproval when he explained that the personal possession threshold would remain at 750 grams at any one time. Delegates made it clear that they disapproved of any limits to personal possession.
Cannabis Development Council of SA (CDCSA) Deputy Chairperson, also CDCSA Limpopo Chairperson, Ras Thau-Thau Haramanuba, said the herb should be seen as a cash crop for Rastafari, used for sacramental and spiritual purposes and also for value addition given that “95% are unemployed and unemployable”.
He expressed dissatisfaction at the legislative delay and at laws “allowing police to do as they wish when they come across [cannabis] entrepreneurs”.
