Mbabane -He is probably the first liSwati to open up about his international illegal business – dagga trade.
Xolile Zungu, a Swazi citizen based in South Africa has boldly spoke to the Independence News desk about how he quit his IT profession to become an international dagga brand for over 20 years.
His said his love for dagga dates back to his primary days while he was residing at Matsapha Mobeni flats. He now feeds four family members through the business and sometimes donate food parcels to the needy,
He also explained that he embarked on this business officially in 2015.
The former Mhlatane High School pupil floods his social media pages every single day trying to market his business.
He often refers himself as The Bush Doctor.
The Eswatini parliament has been trying to get a breakthrough over legalising dagga growing, but results have been negative.
He was asked to share his views on the impact of legalising the dagga.
He pointed out that the legalising of dagga could come with a contrasting impact.
“The Government can benefit more from the farmers if dagga can be regulated. You can relate to how the government regulate the growing of maize, In the end the winner is the state due to taxes and low payment scale.”
However, he said the brighter side was that the country would taking a positive step in terms of aligning itself with what other countries were doing.
“By legalising the herb, it can be easier to reach markets because government can play a vital role in terms of engaging viable markets as opposed to what we experience now.”
The bush doctor did not only share his successes in his line of work but he also outlined some of the challenges he encountered, “We have police roadblocks, friends or people who set us up.’’
He cited that while every job had its challenges, the major requirement for this ‘profession’ was bravery and the highest level of caution.
“I have been marketing this business for over 20 years now.”
Besides the fact that dagga is viewed as an intoxicating drug, Zungu explained that sometimes his target market was people who are sick.
He explained that dagga had health properties like CBD.
CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol.
Cannibidiol is a natural substance found in cannabis, also known as marijuana, and also in hemp plants. Today, you can find CBD oil in capsules, oil bases for vaporizers, tinctures, food items, and beauty products such as bath bombs or lotions.
Zungu who has found his way around the market to the extent of shipping the product abroad highlighted that his target Market included patients particularly those with chronic illness, and the Rastafari community.
“We are clueless on the herb properties like THC and CBD which are found on the plant and they heal.”
According to him the human body is alkaline and it should be treated as so and shy away from using pharmacists’ acidic medication on the body which leaves the body at risk of getting various illnesses.
He described the many ways on how cannabis can be used which included making edibles, cannabis oil. The former IT specialist who claims to be driven by hunger and ambition has used his IT expertise to his advantage to navigate into his dagga business in getting sales and database as well as being innovative.
. During the commencement of his business , he highlighted that being surrounded by a business environment at home made the journey quite easy.
“Dagga is life and it is the only plant that can heal even the sick, shelter you and also feed you.’’
He believes that most Swazi people still took dagga as a drug because not enough information was disclosed about dagga except for smoking.
In Accordance to the opium and habit-forming drugs Act of 1992, the Minister of Health is the only one mandated to issue licence to individuals for purposes of medicinal use or research.
Phindile Vilakati,Chief Information and Communications Officer said they treated this as valuable information that may be helpful in the future.
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