The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has denied allegations that black people are being excluded from being granted medicinal cannabis licenses.
This after the Black Farmers’ Association of South Africa (BFASA) claimed that SAHPRA’s management has been granting licenses to white people and foreign-owned companies without considering indigenous people – including traditional healers and Rastafarians.
SAHPRA’s CEO Dr. Boitumelo Semete Makokotlela says, “That is completely untrue. We operate under the Medicines Act and the last amendment of the Act was in 2017. There are three key things that we look at as our criteria, so demographics are nowhere in our application form as a request.”
SAHPRA’s stance on the planned march by BFASA pic.twitter.com/jmLn48eyUD
— SAHPRA (@SAHPRA1) April 21, 2021
BFASA president Dr. Lennox Mtshagi says they are being discriminated against.
Below is the full interview with Dr Lennox Mtshagi:
