South African police uprooted a cannabis garden grown by indigenous Khoisan activists camped outside President Cyril Ramaphosa’s offices and arrested their leader on 12 January 2022.[1][2] The leader, who calls himself King Khoisan South Africa, clung to a shoulder-height plant as officers dragged it across the presidential lawn in Pretoria.[1][2]
Around two dozen officers, some in riot gear, others on horseback and some with sniffer dogs, raided the small camp on the Union Buildings lawn, where the group had lived in tents since November 2018.[1][2] The activists had vowed to stay until Ramaphosa met them to discuss official recognition of their languages, and the king’s wife, Queen Cynthia, said the president had never taken a minute to acknowledge them.[1] Police charged four people, three men and one woman aged 22 to 54, with dealing in dagga, illegally planting and cultivating it, and failing to wear face masks in public.[1][2][3]
Released on warning
King Khoisan SA and his three co-accused first appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on 13 January, with Khoisan and cannabis supporters protesting outside, and were released on warning for further investigation on dagga charges.[2] They were ordered to return to court on 29 March.[2] South Africa’s highest court had decriminalised cannabis for private and personal use in 2018, while cultivation and dealing remained offences.[1]
Police arrived at the camp at around 7am to remove the marijuana plants growing on the property.[3]
