The harmful effects of this unrestrained discretion on the Rastafari community are documented in the SAHRC’s The Rights of Rastafari Roundtable report, released in November 2025. The report also reflects the extent of arrests made by the South African Police Service (SAPS) against cannabis users since 2018, the year when the Constitutional Court effectively decriminalised adult private use of cannabis, as shown in the statistics presented by SAPS representatives to the SAHRC.

Given the draft regulations' central role in giving effect to the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024 and their potential to end law enforcement's subjective discretion, the Commission encourages the public to submit comments on the draft regulations by the 5 March 2026 deadline. The draft regulations are available at this link.

During this public participation period and until the Act comes into force, the Commission once again calls on members of SAPS to observe the Directive issued by the National Commission of Police on 23 August 2023, titled Arrests by the South African Police Service for Cannabis–Related Matters. This directive directed members of SAPS not to arrest private users and cultivators of cannabis since “there is also no legislation that allows for a presumption of dealing where cannabis quantities above a certain threshold is found in the possession of a person.”

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ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION