Cool vibes at the Cannabis Expo in Sandton. (Photo: Ed Stoddard) It has become an annual ritual at the typically staid Sandton Convention Centre: the pungent aroma of pot drifting into the cool autumn air over Alice Lane as a DJ cranks tunes and occasionally flings joints to an appreciative crowd.
The stoners outside may be chilled, but inside the Cannabis Expo one gets a whiff of the serious business of pot in South Africa and the wider region. The cannabis sector is budding and reaching new highs.
This year’s expo was visibly larger than last year’s and featured companies providing software and hardware solutions geared for the cannabis retail sector, businesses offering growing technology such as lights and nutrients, as well as the usual assortment of hawkers selling bud, edibles and paraphernalia.
It also had consultants from as far away as Zambia, and you know a sector is taking off when consultants start getting involved.
“In Zambia, we are looking at a multibillion-dollar business. We are officially starting growing, with all of the regulations approved, and licences will be issued from August for production and commercial use for medical marijuana and hemp,” said Stephano Majawa, a director of the Lusaka-based cannabis consultancy Prosper Sievu Investments.
“There are 100,000 hectares in Zambia available for hemp for industrial purposes and 10,000 hectares available for medical cannabis. We want investors in Zambia in this space.”
The event’s organisers said exhibitor participation this year was 12% higher than in 2025, with 132 businesses represented on the show floor — a reflection of the surging growth in the sector that was unleashed in 2018 by the landmark apex court ruling that held that adult South Africans had a constitutional right to grow and partake of cannabis.
Almost a decade later, government policy has still not quite abided by the spirit of that ruling, leaving the sector somewhat dazed and confused. But it is slowly starting to grasp this low-hanging fruit, which is rapidly spreading across the economic landscape.
“Last year, there was a great deal of uncertainty, frustration and, frankly, confusion within the market. This year, there is a noticeable sense of momentum. Government signalling around retail licensing and broader cultivation frameworks has shifted sentiment from cautious and defensive to optimistic and opportunity-driven,” said Expo spokesperson Kendel Falkson.
“At the Cannabis Expo, this has translated into a far more confident exhibitor base. Businesses are no longer simply testing the waters; they are actively building brands, expanding distribution networks, and planning for scale. We have also seen a marked increase in serious investors and commercial operators attending the event.”
You would have to be completely stoned if you have not noticed the proliferation of retail cannabis outlets — usually in the guise of “clubs” in the face of legal uncertainty — that have sprung up in recent years, including in the ubiquitous malls.
This speaks to serious consumer demand, which for decades was only met illicitly.
/file/attachments/orphans/unnamed_315788.jpg "A pot plant at the Cannabis Expo in Sandton. (Photo: Ed Stoddard)")
Grey areas
The government, while putting up promising smoke signals on this front, still has proper policy stuck in a pipe that lies ready and waiting for lighting up.
“Grey areas still exist, and the government is not moving fast enough,” said Sylas Howarth, co-founder of the expo.
“Take seeds, for example. It’s still illegal to trade seeds in South Africa, but it was made legal by the Constitutional Court in 2018. As an adult, you can legally grow cannabis for private personal use. But how do you grow cannabis if you’re not legally allowed to buy seeds?”
The term “grey area” was used by more than one of the exhibitors Daily Maverick spoke to at the expo, which speaks to the consensus among those who are racing ahead of government policy.
This is a genie that is not going to be stuffed back into the bong.
Revealingly, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency all had stands at the Expo.
The cannabis sector is clearly on the government’s agenda, but clarity on seed sales, retailing and sin taxes, among others, needs to get rolling.
As for the bud that was on sale or given away as small samples at the expo, this correspondent can reliably report that it was high quality. My interviews done, I went Gonzo and joined the crowd smoking and swaying to the DJ.
“The layout is exceptional. The DJ sets the tone; it’s part of the vibe. It’s nice to tone down,” Klariska Herrmann told me as she sat toking with three of her girlfriends in front of the stage.
The Uber driver who picked me up remarked that he could smell the dagga in the air around the Convention Centre, and was pleased when I added a couple of small free samples I had acquired to his tip. I’m pretty sure that secured me a 5.0 rating.
It’s all in the spirit of the Cannabis Expo, where dudes and dudettes abide and imbibe. DM