South Africa legalises cannabis use. Will the rest of Africa follow?

A cannabis enthusiast holds up a giant puppet at the 2022 Cannabis Expo in Johannesburg, South Africa. In late May, the country became the first in Africa to legalise the use of cannabis for recreational purposes [Niko Vorobyov/Al Jazeera]

On the eve of the May 27 general elections, which saw the ruling African National Congress lose its majority for the first time in 30 years of South African democracy, a major change to the country’s drug laws slipped through, barely noticed by most.

Just one day before the historic ballot, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, making South Africa the first African nation to legalise the use of marijuana.