MAiD in SA: Definitions and our Options
MAiD in SA is a new series that explores medical assistance in dying in South Africa’s context. Let’s begin by talking about terminology…
What is MAiD?
In a broad sense, medical assistance in dying (MAiD) can be any medical intervention that eases the dying process. In our constitutional challenge that we filed at the High Court in Pretoria on 10 April 2026, DignitySA defined MAiD more precisely as encompassing the following components:
i)) A patient who is competent to decide about their continued life; and
ii) Has a terminal or irremediable condition (illness or injury); and
iii) Suffers unbearably (intolerably); and
iv) Is fully informed about their condition (diagnosis, prognosis, options); and
v) Makes a voluntary request (free from duress or undue influence) to be medically assistance with dying; and
vi) Is assisted by a medical practitioner by supplying and
administering the means (injection; drug) that cause death; or
vii) The patient self-administers the supplied means.
What MAiD is Not
We do not use the term “euthanasia” because it was corrupted by the Nazis and has become associated with involuntary procedures. Nevertheless, a Christian anti-MAiD group continues to insist that DignitySA’s constitutional challenge is like being in Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s and will result in the “killing of innocent people” as was the case in the Holocaust. This is inflammatory, and incorrect.
We also do not use the word “suicide” because medically assisted self-administered death is not non-medical suicide for any reason.
What Are Our End-of-Life Options in South Africa?
Death is an inevitable part of our lives, but we do not know how we will die. Some die a peaceful and gentle death, or suddenly and unexpectedly, but without suffering.
But there are others who die a protracted death, consumed by suffering. Death becomes desirable because for them there is no other escape from all-consuming suffering and indignity. Life, from their point of view, is no longer worth living.
For anyone in this position in South Africa, the current legal options are stark:
1) Refuse life-sustaining medical treatment: We have the right to withhold informed consent and instruct doctors to stop or withhold treatment (like ventilators, surgery, or medication), even if that choice shortens our life
2) Request deep palliative sedation: We can ask for heavy pain medication that induces a prolonged medical coma, and prohibits a final, conscious goodbye, even if the secondary, unintended effect of that dosage shortens our life.
3) Undertake Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED): We can legally refuse all food and fluid to let the body shut down naturally, though this process can be protracted and deeply distressing for families to witness.
4) End our lives by ourselves: Non-medical suicide is not a crime in SA, but attempting it alone requires desperate courage, carries massive trauma for loved ones, and risks failing with horrific consequences.
5) Go to Switzerland: Travel to organisations like Dignitas or Pegasos for legally assisted dying, provided you have the physical strength to travel and significant funds to spare.
DignitySA believes that medical assistance in dying (MAiD) should be a safe, regulated, and compassionate option here at home for all South Africans who face irremediable and unbearable suffering.
If you agree please sign and share our petition at https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/urgently-decriminalise-medical-assistance-in-dying and follow this series, as we explore the legal, ethical, and deeply personal aspects of the right to die with dignity in the South African context.
