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The Conversation
Politics
Thembisa Waetjen, Associate Professor of History, University of Johannesburg

Weed in South Africa: apartheid waged a war on drugs that still has unequal effects today

South Africa Africa Cyril Ramaphosa Economy National Party United States
South Africa's governing ANC has continued the anti-cannabis repression inherited from apartheid. shutterstock

Cannabis is being commercialised into a multibillion-dollar global industry and South Africa wants a piece of the pie. In his 2022 state of the nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of developing a hemp and cannabis sector to boost the post-COVID economy.

Poor rural communities in South Africa have long cultivated cannabis in illegal conditions of risk. They now face losing out to corporate interests and the wealthy.

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