KNYSNA NEWS - When deputy chief justice Raymond Zonde declared on 18 September this year that the private possession, consumption and cultivation of cannabis for own use was constitutional, cannabis users countrywide breathed a sigh of relief.
They assumed that being unfairly accosted by police for recreational use would end but, it seems, they thought wrong and many now feel that the overall onslaught against cannabis use has instead been embarked on with renewed zest.
Garden Route residents have complained about police raids and activists decried the fact that 1.5 tons dagga of confiscated since October (some two weeks after Zonde's declaration) was burned by the Southern Cape police in George, on 4 December.
Early-morning raids
One Plettenberg Bay resident, who wished to remain anonymous, recently told KPH about the police raiding her home in the early hours of the morning. Upon requesting the warrant from police, none was supplied and the raid on her home continued, she said.
In another case, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning 28 November, an unsuspecting Iris Trombas (25) says she was rudely awakened when more than 20 police officers entered the property she was looking after in Fisanthoek, a few kilometres outside Plettenberg Bay at what she calls an ironic time in the cannabis culture – *04:20.
'I felt scared and intimidated'
"I woke up to the dogs barking and flashing lights surrounding the house, police peering through the windows. I felt scared and intimidated. I kept wanting to wake up from the dream I thought I was having, but no, this was a reality, a harsh one too," she wrote on her Facebook page later that morning.
Trombas told Knysna-Plett Herald that she refused the officers entry as they had no search warrant. They never produced one. Trombas recalled them as being intimidating, shouting to let them into the house "or they will kick down the door." "They had guns, and I couldn't see clearly because of the flashlight being pointed in my face. 'No warrant, no entry,' I kept on saying. They kept on saying, 'Don't be scared, we won't hurt you' and I could hear them laughing about it," she said.
in the early hours of the morning…" Trombas said, adding that all she was wearing at the time were her pyjamas.
'Ransacked house, took nothing'
Eventually, said Trombas, the officers flashed her a piece of paper and said it was a warrant, stating they were going to start their search. "I tried to open the door slightly to get the so-called warrant, so I could read it, but they forced the door open, came in and surrounded me," she said.
"A search for what? Dagga? You mean dagga that we are legally allowed to have on us and grow?" an infuriated Trombas wanted to know, questioning the motives for the search. She said that she never got to see the alleged warrant.
What's worse, said Trombas, was that after the police had completely ransacked the house – taking nothing, and she even produced her "personal stash" for them to see –the officers inquired about cannabis oil, and where they could procure it, because they have "family members with health issues", she said.
'Police asked about oil'
The anonymous Plettenberg Bay woman, who was raided around the same time as Trombas, also recalled the police asking for cannabis oil in a similar manner.
"I asked one of the police officers why they were conducting an illegal search, and the reply was, 'Because we have the power'.
"I have to ask, where are our rights? And how are our rights protected? Seems to me that our rights don't mean anything in the hands of such police officers."
According to Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie, when it comes to cannabis and the laws surrounding it, there is still a lot of research authorities have to do, also taking Zonde's judgement into consideration.
"At the moment the laws are in a grey area as the amount of cannabis a person can have with them for personal use has not been defined as yet. I must add that if there is evidence of dealing in the substance, whether it is gathered from police operations or the public informing us, we will definitely act," Pojie said.
'Raid can happen any time'
When it comes to searching a property, said Pojie, there is no restriction on what time a "raid" can be held, adding that this specific farm Trombas was looking after was not singled out. "A few properties were searched based on information we received from the public," he added.
Regarding the warrant, Pojie stated that authorities are empowered under the Criminal Procedures Act to search a property without the document if necessary, or if waiting for such a document or producing such a document to the person concerned may interfere with the search. "According to the law the person in question has the right to see the warrant, and if it is not produced she may lay a formal complaint with the police," he added.
Pojie further stated that police are not targeting cannabis users, but that police have a "wide concept of community policing", therefore when the community reports a possible crime, the police must investigate. He reiterated that although personal use and possession are no longer illegal, dealing in cannabis remains illegal.
"Regarding the allegation of officers asking about the cannabis oil, the complainant must make an official statement with the police so that they (the allegations) can be investigated internally."
* 420 in cannabis culture lore is quite an auspicious time, or rather number. Some recreational users see this as the perfect time to "light one up". The number has become legendary and is now synonymous with smoking cannabis. The term is said to have originated in 1971 when a group of five American high school students, calling themselves the Waldos, coined the term.
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
