Cannabis Freedom Index

Changelog 0c266d6

Record that South Africa's top court barred criminal diversion of children for cannabis use, and that the 2024 Act's gift and seed rules are not yet in force. Fixes #70 and #71.

1 history entry added1 country profile edited2 files of code, design or docs +98 −27 lines

History changes.yaml

Added 1

Countries and states 1 file

South Africa countries/za.yaml

segments › enforcement › text

Private adult conduct ispossession, use and cultivation are not punished. Dealing remainsAn adult who uses or possesses cannabis in public can still face a criminal offence with prison termssanction, and smoking in publicdealing remains a crime. On 29 September 2022 the Constitutional Court confirmed that criminalising a child's use or around childrenpossession of cannabis is an offenceinvalid. Children caught withIt suspended that finding for 24 months and, during the suspension, ordered that no child may be arrested, prosecuted or diverted for that contravention. A child who is apprehended may be referred to civil processes. The judgment says use or possession by a child is still not permitted, and that dealing, and an adult who uses a child to possess or use cannabis, are diverted rather than prosecutedoutside the order. The 2024 Act, which would set the response for a child, has not come into force.

segments › enforcement › sources

actzacc2022, idpcact

segments › sharing › text

Any exchange for payment or other reward is 'dealing' and remains a crime. Sharing between adults in privateThe 2024 Act would let an adult, without payment, give cannabis to or receive it from another adult in a private place, but that Act has not come into force. The 2018 ruling protects possession, use and cultivation for oneself. An unpaid gift between adults is not clearly protectedsettled by the Act, leaving it a grey areaholding read here.

segments › sharing › sources

act, adamszacc2022

segments › consumption › text

LegalAn adult's use in a private place onlyrests on the 2018 ruling. Smoking or consuming in public is an offence, as isPublic use can still be a crime. The 2024 Act would also forbid use in the presence of a child or of a non-consenting adult, but that Act has not come into force.

segments › consumption › sources

zacc2022, act

segments › access › text

There is no legal way to buy cannabis for adult use — the. The 2024 Act deliberately excludeswould also exclude trade, and it has not come into force. Private 'grow clubs' and dispensaries operate in a legal grey zone and are periodically raided.

context › medical › text

Medical access is possible but narrow: a doctor must apply to the regulator for permission to prescribe an unregistered cannabis medicine for a named patient. The 2024 Act also provides forwould let a responsible adult give a child cannabis prescribed toby a childdoctor, and that Act has not come into force.

context › consequences › text

The 2022 judgment lets a child's conviction for cannabis use or possession be expunged on application. The 2024 Act provides for a wider expungement of old convictions for possession orand use to be expungedconvictions, and that Act has not come into force. Workplace testing and dismissal for a positive test remain contested in the courts, and driving under the influence is an offence.

context › consequences › sources

zacc2022, act, adams

context › planting › seeds

legalgrey

context › planting › clones

legalgrey

context › planting › text

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops and expressly leaves out the seed and the seedling, and its definition of cultivating includes propagating a plant. Adults mayIt would let an adult, without payment, give cannabis to, or receive it from, another adult in a private place. The Act comes into operation only without payment;on a date the Act sets no separate rule for selling seeds or cuttingsPresident proclaims, and it has not come into force. The 2018 ruling protects an adult's own cultivation in private. Sale remains dealing.

context › visitors › text

Nobody can buy cannabis legally: the 2024 Act deliberately leaves out trade. What itThe 2018 ruling protects is an adult's own possession, growing and use in a private place, without distinguishingand it does not separate residents from visitors; draft. The 2024 Act is not in force. Draft regulations published in February 2026 would cap possession at 750 g and growing at five plants. A visitor therefore has no legal source, and using cannabis in public remains an offenceuse can still be a crime.

sources

Constitutional Court — Centre for Child Law v Director of Public Prosecutions, Johannesburg [2022] ZACC 35 10 unchanged

Code, design and documents 2 files

docs/research/profile-legal-za-2026-10-23.md +17 −0
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# South Africa profile, 23 October 2026
+
+Issues #70 and #71. Texts opened before the profile was rewritten.
+
+## Read
+
+- Constitutional Court, Centre for Child Law v Director of Public Prosecutions, Johannesburg [2022] ZACC 35, 29 September 2022. The order confirms that section 4(b) of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act is invalid insofar as it criminalises a child's use or possession of cannabis, suspends that invalidity for 24 months, and during the suspension forbids arrest, prosecution and diversion. A child who is apprehended may be referred to civil processes. Paragraph 98 says use or possession by a child is still not permitted, and that dealing and an adult who uses a child to possess or use cannabis are outside the order. Paragraph 29 records that an adult who uses or possesses cannabis in public can still face a criminal sanction. https://www3.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2022/35.html
+- LawLibrary, Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024: banner “This Act has not yet come into force.” Section 2(1)(b) would allow an unpaid gift between adults in private. Section 1 leaves seed and seedling out of the definition of cannabis. Section 8 comes into operation on a date the President proclaims. https://lawlibrary.org.za/akn/za/act/2024/7/eng@2024-06-03
+
+## Not opened
+
+- The Ministry of Justice child-justice annual report and the 3 February 2026 press statement.
+- The 2018 Prince judgment was not reopened. The profile uses the 2022 judgment's account of it, and the existing 2018 history entry.
+- The Haze Club judgment was not reopened. The clubs paragraph is unchanged.
+- No practice study of how police treat children after the 24-month suspension.
+
+Adult scores are unchanged. Sharing stays 3. Seed and clone status moves from legal to grey because the chip “legal” means an adult may buy them, and the only text excluding seed and seedling, and allowing an unpaid gift, is in the uncommenced Act.
scripts/history-scope.test.cjs +15 −0
@@ -672,2 +672,17 @@ test("El Salvador's own-use ruling, Manitoba's home grow and Portugal's influenc
   assert.equal(influence.before, undefined);
 });
+
+test("South Africa's child-use order and uncommenced gift rule follow the texts that were read", () => {
+  const za = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/za.yaml", "utf8"));
+  const child = byId["south-africa-child-cannabis-2022"];
+  assert.match(za.segments.enforcement.text, /no child may be arrested, prosecuted or diverted/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(za.segments.enforcement.text, /diverted rather than prosecuted/);
+  assert.match(za.context.planting.text, /has not come into force/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(za.context.planting.text, /Adults may give cannabis to, or receive it from/);
+  assert.equal(za.context.planting.seeds, "grey");
+  assert.equal(za.scores.sharing, 3);
+  assert.equal(za.scores.possession, 6);
+  assert.equal(child.date, "2022-09-29");
+  assert.equal(child.before, undefined);
+  assert.match(child.unscored, /adult scores do not move/);
+});
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