Welcome to Polkadraai Farm in Stellenbosch, everybody. You can pick your own strawberries, enjoy a tractor ride, grab a bite to eat… and now, visitors can get within an arms length of the country’s first-ever licensed cannabis farm. The family-friendly venue was granted its commercial status last week.

Photo: Polkadraai Farm / Facebook

Dagga laws: Is cannabis legal in South Africa?

This comes 13 months after the highest court in South Africa essentially legalised dagga usage for private consumption. ConCourt gave the government two years to finalise legislation on the matter, and just past the halfway point, we’re finally witnessing the monetisation of this once-illicit industry.

Polkadraai Farm have been given a license to grow up to 20 tonnes of weed on their premises. They confirmed that a specialised greenhouse would be constructed on an isolated part of the land, in order to produce various cannabis strains that can be used for CBD oil and other medical treatments.

Photo: Polkadraai Farm / Facebook

Inside Polkadraai Farm

However, for those of you planning to drop the kids off in the strawberry patch and score some cannabis on the sly, we’ve got some bad news: Their commercial license does not allow Polkadraai Farm to privately sell the goods – they can only exchange with licensed companies, namely pharmaceutical outfits.

Leslie Zettler is the co-owner of Polkadraai Farm. He told CapeTalk that this secluded spot in Stellenbosch could eventually branch out to private sales – but they are waiting on a few other wheels to start turning:

“The farm stays as it is. It’ll be grown on an isolated patch which is more secure. It’ll be used for CBD oil and tablets. Polkadraai Farm has a license to cultivate, we can produce it but we can’t sell it to the public – we can only sell it to licensed companies. But in time, once we get our full license, it will sort itself.” “The license is to cultivate the product and export it. Until things open up a little bit more, we’ll just be testing and getting our strains up to standard. We’re building a greenhouse to make things more cannabis-specific. There’s still a huge amount of research going on, but this industry is just so new and exciting.” Leslie Zettler

Growing cannabis in South Africa

Polkadraai – and other entrepreneurial businesses – can certainly see a green future in South Africa. This burgeoning industry has some way to go before it is fully established, but a properly-regulated dagga market has the ability to both improve the economy and reduce crime. Let’s hope things turn out sweet for these Strawberry farmers.