Cannabis is king in Gauteng: Makhura says the industry will create jobs

Gauteng premier David Makhura has announced that the provincial government will be venturing into the cannabis industry.

Makhura tabled this at his state of the province address (Sopa) on Tuesday morning, where he stated that the industrialisation of cannabis targeting healthcare and skincare could be lucrative for the province.

For Makhura the industrialisation of cannabis as a new industry has great potential and will create jobs.

“Our first and foremost economic goal is to grow the economy in order to massively increase the number of new jobs, while sustaining existing jobs in Gauteng. Our number one goal is to create jobs.”

“There is a huge sector in our economy ... any country that forgets about it will be left behind; that is the cannabis industry,” said Makhura

Makhura’s announcement followed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address’ (Sona) speech, in which he endorsed regulating the commercial use of hemp products and the formulation of a policy that supports the use of cannabis.

“We in Gauteng will focus on industrialisation and agro-processing of the cannabis industry, and unlocking the cannabis industry, especially for use for medicinal purposes and many broader areas, such as health care, including skincare. I don’t want to be part of those who want to use it for other things,” said Makhura.

READ: Eastern Cape government approves setting up of a cannabis college

It is envisaged that this will create 100 000 jobs in the next five years and facilitate the development of 50 black industries.

“In the next five years, the Gauteng provincial government will spend R60 billion on building and maintaining infrastructure, and this will contribute to the creation of an additional 100 000 jobs and facilitate the development of 50 black industrialists. “This will enable unemployed young women to venture into self-employment in the townships.

“We will upscale our Welfare-to-Work programme to enable 100 000 unemployed young women, who currently depend on state grants, to graduate to self-employment in the township economy,” Makhura said.

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