Overview
- DignitySA filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court seeking to decriminalise medically assisted dying for terminally ill patients.
- The group asks courts to declare the blanket ban unconstitutional and to suspend any invalidation for two years to prevent a legal vacuum.
- It also requests an order directing Parliament to pass a medical assistance‑in‑dying law within 24 months.
- The filing names the health and justice ministers, the national prosecutions chief, and the Health Professions Council as respondents, noting current law treats assisted dying as murder.
- At a Cape Town briefing, co‑founder Willem Landman cited rights to dignity and autonomy, presented patient case studies, and argued the step will spur broad debate across medicine, politics and faith groups.