KZN targets cannabis for job creation

Bid to boost development of rural economy

- THAMI MAGUBANE

WITH grim employment statistics released yesterday, a new cannabis initiative in KwaZulu-Natal aims to unlock job opportunities, especially in rural parts of the province.

The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) has recently detailed its plans for the sector, including a partnership aimed at piloting a Shared Cannabis Processing Facility.

This project is critical, with at least one municipality, the Okhahlamba (Bergville) Municipality, hinging its hopes on it to address unemployment and boost the municipality's budget. The central focus of the project is processing cannabis into various products.

Addressing unemployment needs urgent attention, as Statistics South Africa’s latest quarterly labour force survey, which was released yesterday, indicated that the unemployment rate has increased by one percentage point from 31.9% in the last quarter of last year to 32.9% this year.

Musa Zondi, the MEC for Edtea, stated that the industry presents an opportunity to enhance the rural economy. Edtea’s rural economy strategy includes the formalisation and expansion of the cannabis and hemp sector, not as a side project, but as part of a centrally focused legitimate industrial activity.

“In this regard, we are piloting a Shared Cannabis Processing Facility in Bergville, in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

“This initiative will support oil and fibre production and incubate small growers, ensuring traditional producers enter the value chain meaningfully,” Zondi remarked recently.