Is Xylazine legal in South Africa?

Legal status

Not named in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, so it is not a drug or a scheduled substance under that Act.

Consequences if caught

Xylazine is a thiazine derivative of a xylidine and it acts on an adrenergic receptor. Reading every entry in both schedules, there is no thiazine, no xylidine derivative and no adrenergic agonist of any kind. Neither half of the homologue definition is engaged: there is no shared structural fragment and no listed substance with similar pharmacodynamic properties, because nothing in the Act's schedules works through that receptor. The dossier deferred this row on the footing that the closest Schedule 2 text was an entry for ketamine. That string occurs zero times in the Act, so the stated ground for the deferral is not there. Where this substance is found mixed into a sample of a listed drug, the listed drug answers the case and this substance adds nothing to it. Capital exposure: none, and life exposure: none. Section 17 sets out the whole penalty scale of this Act and its highest figure is 25 years for dealing; no provision of the Act carries a death sentence or a sentence of life imprisonment.

If prescribed or medical

Xylazine is a veterinary sedative. Its supply in South Africa runs through the Medicines Act and the veterinary medicines regime, neither of which is held in this repository or was read for this cell. Nothing in this Act restricts it.

Documentation

Search record. The terms searched were xylazine, thiazine, xylidine, Rompun and tranq. All return zero occurrences in the Act. [Likely] on the relatedness judgement, which rests on having read the whole list rather than on any statement in the Act about this substance. The text read for this cell is the Juta consolidation of the Act downloaded on 29 May 2025, taken from the Department of Justice copy at justice.gov.za whose sha256 begins bc1216a3. It carries the substitution of Schedules 1 and 2 by section 2 of Act 14 of 2022 with effect from 14 December 2022, and it marks section 7 of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, the provision that would amend Schedule 2 again, as not yet put into operation by proclamation. The schedules are stated as at that consolidation and this does not rule out a later amendment made or commenced since.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with South Africa’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.