Steering Committee Meets as Planting Season Begins – Can Inclusive Growth Finally Take Root?

On 2 October 2026 the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition convened the second-quarter meeting of the Hemp and Cannabis Steering Committee. The gathering brought together government, labour and private-sector partners to assess progress on commercialising the sector, expand inclusive participation, and strengthen implementation of the Hemp and Cannabis Master Plan. 

The timing is deliberate. Planting season is already underway. Major manufacturers and processors have signalled off-take commitments. The conversation is shifting, at least on paper, from potential to production, markets and inclusive growth. Officials highlighted opportunities across cultivation, industrial hemp, medicinal cannabis, CBD and wellness products, and hemp-based materials for the built environment. A target of 10% annual industry growth sits in the background of the discussions.

The Inclusion Question Remains Central

The Steering Committee explicitly linked these commercial ambitions to pathways for indigenous growers. That language lands against the backdrop of the Department of Small Business Development’s recent Request for Quotation for legal experts to design a framework for the recognition, protection and regulated participation of indigenous cannabis growers. The RFQ closed on 2 October. The two processes — one focused on overall sector commercialisation, the other on the specific legal barriers facing traditional growers — are now running in parallel.

Private adult use, possession and cultivation have been protected since the 2018 Prince judgment. The Cannabis for Private Purposes Act of 2024 largely codifies that private sphere, although full commencement and final regulations remain incomplete. What has still not been created is a practical, accessible commercial route for the rural and traditional growers who maintained the plant through decades of prohibition. The informal market continues to be estimated at around R36 billion a year. Large seizures remain a regular feature of the landscape.

From Master Plan to Delivery

The ongoing review of the Hemp and Cannabis Master Plan is presented as an opportunity to unlock broader industrialisation potential. Strengthening local demand, manufacturing capacity, market access and export opportunities are listed as priorities. Off-take commitments from processors are described as a possible bridge for indigenous growers into both domestic and international markets.

Whether those commitments translate into actual contracts, fair pricing, technical support and secure market access will determine if the rhetoric of inclusion becomes operational reality. Previous cycles of policy announcements have generated optimism followed by prolonged regulatory silence. Investors who moved early on the strength of earlier political statements have already documented the cost of that gap.

What to Watch

Several practical questions now sit on the table:

•  How quickly will the legal framework commissioned by Small Business Development be developed and translated into usable licensing or support mechanisms?

•  Will the Steering Committee’s emphasis on inclusive participation produce concrete instruments that lower barriers for traditional and small-scale growers, or will compliance costs continue to favour better-capitalised players?

•  Can off-take commitments be structured in ways that protect landrace genetics and local seed systems rather than displacing them?

•  Will the mid-2027 Cannabis Bill timeline hold, and will it incorporate the work now being done on indigenous-grower pathways?

Planting season does not wait for perfect legislation. Growers are already in the field. The Steering Committee meeting, coming the day after the RFQ closed, signals that government is at least attempting to keep the commercialisation and inclusion tracks moving at the same time. Delivery, not another round of assessments, will be the measure of whether this moment marks genuine progress.

The sector has heard the language of inclusive growth before. This time the calendar, the planting season and the parallel legal process create a narrower window for excuses.

Linkable sources

•  dtic announcement, 2 October 2026: https://www.thedtic.gov.za/scaling-up-hemp-and-cannabis-industry-from-cultivation-to-commercialisation/

•  Small Business Development RFQ (closed 2 October 2026)

•  Broader context on the R36bn informal market and indigenous-grower pathways