Who
 We are

Who We Are

We aim to empower people to help change the world.


SJF Attorneys is a newly established law firm in Johannesburg, focusing on a new kind of law. We utilise state of the art technology ensuring a modern day experience, highly personalised and cost-effective service delivery and that our computer networks always have direct access to all databases of relevance, to assist you during urgent situations. While we offer a full range of legal services to both corporate and individual clients, its founder and managing director, Stefan JF Bezuidenhout, has been specialising in cannabis law since 2018, when the highest court in the land decriminalised the personal use of cannabis by adults, in private.

 
But since then plenty has happened with social/grow clubs popping up all over, CBD being rescheduled and the department of Agriculture releasing its Hemp permit system guideline.
Stefan has written articles on the subject and spent 2 years practising under the watchful eye of Paul Michael Keichel, an attorney who spear-headed the constitutional matter decriminalising cannabis on a national level.

Refrences:

[1] The Union: The Business behind getting High, 2007.

[2] Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Garreth Prince and Others [2018] ZACC 30.

[3] Newham, cited in Dolley, 2013.

[4] Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965.

[5] The Drugs and Drugs Trafficking Act, 1992.

[6] Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and others 2017 2 All SA 864 (WCC).

[7] Constitution see South Africa

[8] Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and others 2017 2 All SA 864 (WCC) par [11].

[9] Parry Charles and Bronwyn Myers 2014 ISSN: 0256-9574 399 – 400.

[10] South African Health Products Regulatory Authority 2018. https://www.sahpra.org.za/documents/ed469ea66.25_Licence_application_Cannabis_Sept17_v1.pdf.

  1. Dolley, C. 2013. Decriminalising drugs not on the cards for SA. Pretoria News, 6 August
  2. Hosken, G. 2014. Dagga joints ‘smoked’. The Times. 28 November
  3. Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act No. 101 of 1965)
  4. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others v Prince; National Director of Public Prosecution and Others v Rubin; National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others v Acton and Others [2018] ZACC 30
  5. Parry Charles and Bronwyn Myers “Legalising medical use of cannabis in South Africa: Is the empirical evidence sufficient to support policy shifts in this direction?”, 2014 ISSN: 0256-9574
  6. Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and others 2017 2 All SA 864
  7. Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and others 2017 2 All SA 864
  8. South Africa. 1996. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996.
  9. South African Health Products Regulatory Authority Licence Application to Cultivate, Manufacture or Import cannabis for Medicinal purposes. https://www.sahpra.org.za/documents/ed469ea66.25_Licence_application_Cannabis_Sept17_v1.pdf
  10. The Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992 (Act No. 140 of 1992)
  11. The Union: The business behind getting high, 2007, Documentary, Adam Scorgie, Score G Productions

Meet Our MD

Stefan JF Bezuidenhout

Stefan is an admitted attorney with a keen interest in the challenges facing the cannabis industry in South Africa and more specifically, the laws surrounding them.

He comes from a background in criminal law and was the continuous cannabis related arrests what sparked his passion for the industry. Stefan also spent 2 (two) years in the Medicinal & Recreational Cannabis department at Schindler’s Attorneys, under the unparallel guidance of Paul-Michael Keichel, one of the attorneys who spear-headed the case we all came to know as “The Trial of the Plant”.

His expertise isn’t however limited to Recreational cannabis, Stefan has assisted many licensed facilities with their legal needs and even attended multiple SAHPRA inspections personally, giving him in depth knowledge of what SAHPRA requires when inspecting your cultivation facility for licensing approval.