Gustav Thiel
A RASTAFARIAN is taking the Law Society of Cape Town to court over its refusal to allow him to qualify as a lawyer because he has a criminal record for cannabis possession.
The Law Society says it cannot allow Garreth Prince, who completed his legal studies at the University of the Western Cape in 1995, to apply for a clerkship because he is not “a fit and proper person to represent the legal fraternity”. Prince was convicted of possessing cannabis in 1989 and 1996.
Prince says he has told his attorneys to take the matter to the Cape Supreme Court.
Law Society director Susan McElvaine says Prince was turned down because of the Attorneys Act, which stipulates that a person with a criminal record cannot register as a candidate attorney.
But Prince says the Law Society has allowed others with criminal records to register — a point confirmed by members of the legal profession.
Prince adds that under the religious freedom provision in the new constitution he should have the right to smoke cannabis.
“In Ethiopia cannabis is recognised in their official church as a holy sacrament,” he says. “If they can allow it, surely our Constitution should allow the same situation.”
“Cannabis has never hurt anyone,” he adds. “It is a holy weed and part of Jah’s gifts. I completed my legal studies in the required amount of years while I smoked it often, which shows that it does not harm your brain.”
He says he will take his case as far as the Constitutional Court if necessary, to fight for the right of the entire Rastafarian community in South Africa to “smoke the holy weed openly . Ultimately I feel I shouldn’t be labelled a criminal for doing something that is religious.”
A Cape Town constitutional lawyer, who declines to be named, says the new Constitution probably does allow smoking cannabis for religious purposes, but not for any other reason.