South African Province To Prioritize Cannabis Industry Job Creation
South Africa’s government released updated employment data yesterday, with the official unemployment rate increasing by 1.0 percentage point from 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025.
In response to the high unemployment rate, a province in South Africa is launching an initiative seeking to create new jobs in the nation’s emerging legal cannabis industry. South Africa legalized cannabis last year for adult use in private settings. Medical cannabis use was already legal in South Africa before the legalization of recreational cannabis.
“With grim employment statistics released yesterday, a new cannabis initiative in KwaZulu-Natal aims to unlock job opportunities, especially in rural parts of the province.” reported IOL in its local coverage. “The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) has recently detailed its plans for the sector, including a partnership aimed at piloting a Shared Cannabis Processing Facility.”
According to Edtea’s website, “The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs is mandated to oversee the socio-economic transformation in the province.”
“This project is critical, with at least one municipality, the Okhahlamba (Bergville) Municipality, hinging its hopes on it to address unemployment and boost the municipality’s budget. The central focus of the project is processing cannabis into various products.” IOL also reported.
South Africa is on a short list of countries that have adopted national adult-use cannabis legalization measures, along with Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, and Germany. Back in March of this year, the Department of Health in South Africa announced a complete ban on cannabis and hemp-derived ‘foodstuffs.’
The announcement was met with considerable outcry from the public and members of South Africa’s emerging legal cannabis industry, resulting in the ban being rescinded. Earlier this month, South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that the government department he oversees will publish draft regulations for the sale of cannabis-infused foods soon.
“The initial ban faced significant criticism from experts and industry leaders, particularly for prohibiting cannabis derivatives like hemp, which were not illegal.” reported Business Insider Africa in its local coverage. “Following intervention from President Cyril Ramaphosa, the controversial regulations which have been condemned for lacking public consultation, were ultimately rescinded.”
At the recent International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, Germany, leading international cannabis economist Beau Whitney, founder of Whitney Economics, presented data in which he estimated the potential global medical and adult-use cannabis market to be worth roughly $237.8 billion. Only time will tell how much of that market potential South Africa will be able to tap into.
