Written by Freelance Writer & Storyteller, Lee Hymers
A Dream Sold, A Future Stolen
In 2019, South Africa’s leaders promised a sunrise industry. Cannabis, they said, would create jobs, revitalise rural economies, and deliver billions in exports. We were told the shackles of prohibition were being thrown off.
Six years later, the truth is unavoidable: the green rush never came. There is still no legal domestic market, traditional growers remain criminalised, and the only people making money are a handful of corporates exporting under punishing EU-GMP rules.
What happened? In simple terms: the South African government ran a confidence trick. They paraded cannabis as transformation in speeches and workshops, while constructing a regulatory maze designed to protect their own interests, feed bureaucratic coffers, and keep the industry dependent and docile.