Written by Brett Hilton-Barber, Cannabiz Africa
Cannabis legal strategist Charl Botha has written to the President to urgently reinforce the moratorium on cannabis arrests following the death of a Cape Town Rastafarian leader during a police incident. He has requested the new Police Minister take oversight action and that the SAPS officers involved be held accountable.
Mowbray resident Isakwisa Atupele Mwamasage, a Tanzanian national known as “Ras Isa” in the cannabis community, died during a SAPS ‘Stop and Search’ operation on Thursday, 28 August 2025.
In his letter to the President and 12 other government departments, dated 1 September 2025, Botha writes that “witness accounts and video evidence suggest that excessive force may have been applied, raising suspicion of asphyxiation”.
He has called for a public briefing be issued to Parliament within 14 days on both the Mwamasage investigation and the enforcement of the cannabis moratorium and what concrete disciplinary and possible criminal measures are to be taken against SAPS officers found to have violated constitutional protections.
He says that despite police statements, there have been no transparent updates on the incident which has triggered outrage in the Western Cape cannabis community.