The rural town of Bergville, in KwaZulu-Natal, could soon become the capital of cannabis and hemp should plans by the Okhahlamba local municipality succeed.
The town, nestled in the middle of the majestic Drakensberg mountains, has embarked on an aggressive cannabis cultivation programme whereby villagers under different tribal authorities are planting the crop for commercial purposes.
The community members band themselves into cooperatives with the municipality -taking the responsibility to apply for cannabis production and hemp permits.
“The plan is long overdue and we aim to make this small town on the peripheries of the province the economic heartbeat.
“The focus of the project is producing cannabis with low Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Last year we set ourselves a target of cloning and planting 3 100 Europa strains plants, and this has been achieved,” he told Sunday World.
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is a crystalline and medicinal compound that is the active ingredient of cannabis. It is mainly used to manage and treat chemotherapy.
According to market research company Straits Research, the global medical cannabis market size was valued at $33.84-billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $235.58-billion by 2032.
Medical cannabis herbal pro-ducts are used to treat conditions such as cancer, chronic pain and mental disorders.
Mlotshwa conceived the project shortly after being introduced as the new sheriff in town after the 2021 municipal elections under the banner of his party African People’s Movement.
The local council is governed through a coalition.
The project is the first officially backed community-based cannabis project in the country.
“We are partnering with community organisations, amakhosi and the private sector. This is a big project and we have put people on the municipality’s payroll to manage our various cannabis nurseries. Members of the community are responsible for cannabis farms,” Mlotshwa said.
Through partnerships with the private sector and key government agencies, it will manufacture cannabis and hemp products ready for local consumption and export market.
According to Mlotshwa, the move will turn Okhahlamba, as Bergville is commonly known, into the KwaZulu-Natal headquarters of cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and processing and pumping billions of rand into the local economy.
For Mlotshwa and other villagers in Bergville, the plant has sentimental value. More than 60 years ago, 22 Bergville community members who made a living by trading in marijuana, were executed by the apartheid government.
Through the KwaZulu-Natal Cannabis Master Plan, the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform committed more than R40-million into cannabis project.
