'Everything we get is through selling cannabis' With South Africa on the brink of cannabis legalisation, VumaniMkhize finds out why so many traditional growers are being left behind.
For generations, people in South Africa's Eastern Cape have made their living growing cannabis. You might expect that as the country moves to legalise the crop, they would be first in line to benefit, but that is not necessarily the case.
At a homestead near the riverbank, we meet a group of men, women and children tending to a fresh harvest. Their hands are stained green from plucking the cannabis heads all day. These growers have found themselves on the wrong side of the law many times, but the government's tough stance on cannabis looks set to change.which decriminalised the private use, possession and growing of cannabis.
"The government should be assisting the communities to grow so that they can compete with the world market. Here is a commodity growing so easily and organically. We are not jealous, the rich should also come in, but please accommodate the poorest of the poor," Mr Zueni says.Last year, the government unveiled a master plan for the industrialisation and commercialisation of the cannabis plant.
Although much still remains unclear, it seems the government is committed to opening up the industry, because the economic opportunities are too enticing to ignore. The plans have broad public support, with few dissenting voices.
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