A group of about 150 Capetonians, waving posters proclaiming "Cannabis can make petrol and paper", "Go Green" and "Grow with the flow", marched to the gates of parliament on Saturday, calling for the legalisation of dagga.
The marchers released about a dozen green balloons with alien faces drawn on them. They flew over the wall and into the grounds of the parliamentary complex and were gathered up by police.
The organisers said the march was intended to highlight "the many uses of the plant cannabis", including applications in the agricultural, building and health sectors.
Organiser André du Plessis said cannabis, or dagga, "is not only about smoking".
'There are more than a thousand other historically documented uses for this plant'
"There are more than a thousand other historically documented uses for this plant, going back thousands of years. More applications are found daily."
"These go across the board, and if we tackle this issue wisely, we can help solve a lot of South Africa's social and health problems."
"We cannot any longer ignore this plant simply because of its historical association with the drug problem," he said.
Du Plessis, an IT engineer, said it was clear from television and newspaper reports there was a thriving rural agricultural cannabis market in South Africa.
"This market, although illegal, has been in existence for at least 15 years," he said.
Two marchers tried to hand a petition - titled "The Importance of cannabis as an industrial resource" - to the police but they refused to accept it, saying parliament was closed at weekends. "See, I told you we should have done this on Friday," one marcher said to the other.
The whole group dispersed soon after while police tried to fit the balloons into the back of a squad car. It was unclear what they planned to do with them.
- Sapa
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