Ramaphosa signs Drugs and Drug Trafficking Amendment Act
04 Jan 2023
The Drugs and Drug Trafficking Amendment Act has been signed.
Parliament passed the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Amendment Bill and sent it to president Ramaphosa for assent in November 2022.
The bill was tabled in parliament in August 2022.
The justice and constitutional development department published the bill’s explanatory summary in Government Gazette 47193 earlier the same month.
Cabinet approved the bill in August for tabling in parliament.
In a statement, cabinet pointed out that the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act of 1992 criminalises the manufacturing and supply of any substance included under Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of the act.
The proposed legislation flows from a Constitutional Court judgement in the matter between Jason Smit v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others [2020] ZACC 29.
The Court held that section 63 of the act, to the extent that it purports to delegate plenary legislative power to the minister to amend the schedules to the act, is inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid.
The Court also ruled that the amendments effected in terms of section 63 to the schedules to the act, are invalid.
Parliament was given 24 months to correct the defects.
The portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development passed the bill without amendments.
The national assembly gave the green light to the bill in September 2022 and sent it to the national council of provinces for concurrence.
The select committee on security and justice sought comment on the bill in October 2022.
The select committee adopted the bill without amendments.
The act aims to amend the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992 so as to:
- repeal the Minister’s delegated plenary legislative powers to amend Schedules 1 and 2;
- amend Schedule 1 and Schedule 2; and
- provide for matters connected therewith.
The act, published in Gazette 47736, came into effect on the date of publication.
See also:
- Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill tabled
- When can the police search your home or car?
- The presumption of innocence – illustrated
- Legally speaking – Where can we grow cannabis? An update for Agripreneurs
