'All that cooking and excessive garlic now makes sense': SA reacts to Tito Mboweni's 'weed patch'

Reactions to Tito Mboweni's “weed patch” snap smoked the internet on Tuesday, resulting in the finance minister deleting his post.

Mboweni showed off weed plants in a field, keeping people guessing as to whether it was his or not.

“Growing weed legally!!" he said in now-deleted tweet.

This is not the first time Mboweni has shared about the “plantation” in his backyard.

Earlier this year, he shared a picture of a cannabis plant and called for legalisation, saying it would bring “more tax revenue”. 

“I need more tax (money) urgently! Radical Economic Transformation,” he said at the time.

Legalising weed

In August, the government legalised the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill has no limit on the number of seeds or seedlings one can plant in their backyard.

However, the bill sets legal limits for personal use in private places. Four flowering plants are allowed for those living alone, and eight for homes with two adults or more.

An adult person may, for personal use, possess 100g of dry dagga or one flowering plant in a public space. Under that draft law, the maximum jail term for dealing in dagga or providing it to a child — someone under 18 — is 15 years.

Smoking dagga in public, too close to a window, or in the immediate presence of any non-consenting adult person could lead to a jail sentence of up to two years. Anyone smoking around children can get up to four years in jail.

Does Mboweni smoke weed? 

He does not. But the minister tried it in his younger days and hinted before that he would try it again.

“I tried it in 1967. Did not like it. Maybe I should try again. They grow nicely here at the farm,” he said last month during a question-and-answer session on Twitter.

Reactions

Here is a snapshot of what tweeps had to say about Mboweni's growing patch.