For relevant info on traditional Cannabis use in South Africa look no further than this:

Excerpt from ‘Cannabis in South Africa – The People’s Plant‘: Section 4.5 Protection & Support Of Legacy Cannabis Communities, Traditional Knowledge, Intellectual Property & Natural Resources:

*footnotes in full Manifesto

The recent Bill on the Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (B6-2016) recognises that “indigenous knowledge is a national asset and that it is therefore in the national interest to protect and promote indigenous knowledge through law, policy and both public and private-sector programmes.”*

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “Traditional knowledge is not so called because of its antiquity. It is a living body of knowledge that is developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.”* In the case of South Africa, therefore, this includes not only the longstanding use and cultivation and the specific genetics, techniques and knowledge associated with it, but also more recent cultural traditions forged within the prohibition period. Nowadays in South Africa, traditional legacy Cannabis communities can be found in all regions, spanning all cultures and all backgrounds.

Recognition of collective Intellectual Property (IP) will be of special importance in South Africa to help protect communities with traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCE) linked to the Cannabis plant and its uses.

Community focused Cannabis IP protection policies will also be a tool* to build local brands that add value to the historical Cannabis products and cultural uses20, and help create a path to engage in international fair trade. Additionally, the Cannabis plant has very specific endemic iterations, such as the locally specific plant varieties forged over centuries by the conjunction of defined environmental conditions and cultivation methods continued in time. This is a crucial and intangible asset linked to the communities that also need protection.

Existing laws, particularly the Counterfeit Goods Act and the Merchandise Marks Act*, already allow for the protection of communities’ intellectual property rights regarding traditional crops and genetic resources. However a proper market recognition of the world-famous South African areas of cultivation and cultivars of Cannabis might require the addition of South Africa to treaties, such as the Geneva Act on Appellations of Origins and Geographical Indications*. This will expand recognition beyond our borders – and show proactive advocacy on the part of the South African government for the rights and international competitiveness of farmers, peasants, and rural, local and indigenous communities, and a fair protection of their IP heritage: a common heritage of the nation under the custody of legacy communities.