A Life of Principle, Compassion and Courage: Honouring Emeritus Professor Johannes Phillipus van Niekerk
Emeritus Professor Johannes Phillipus van Niekerk was a tireless advocate for the legalisation of assisted dying in South Africa. However, this is not the primary reason why DignitySA is paying tribute to the life of this great man. “Prof JP”, as we came to know him, played a transformative role in medical education, led prominent medical bodies, and undertook pioneering work in bioethics. We were saddened to learn of his sudden death last week and share a deep sense of loss with his family and loved ones.
Prof JP always saw the bigger picture and sought to leave a legacy. When he chose to back a person or a cause, one felt his steadfast and committed presence. During his tenure at UCT, he was the driving force behind the fundraising for and establishment of the Barnard Fuller Building, and he led the Faculty of Health Sciences into a new democratic era in his role as Dean from 1990 to 1998. Further afield, he was instrumental in establishing global standards for medical education.
Prof JP helped to advance many professional bodies, including serving as the President of the South African Medical Association (SAMA), the Association of Medical Schools of Africa, and, in this capacity, on the executive of the World Federation for Medical Education. He played the founding role in the South African Journal of Bioethics and Law and was the Managing Editor, and the Emeritus Editor, of the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ).
He contributed to many social causes and was a champion for humane drug laws to reduce drug-related harms, as well as for end-of-life choices and access to palliative care. He served as the founding Chair of the Hospice Palliative Care Association (now the Association of Palliative Care Centers) and, in later years, a patron.
In 2024, Prof JP published a groundbreaking editorial “Decriminalising and Legalising Assisted Dying” in the SAMJ together with Prof Dan Ncayiyana, Dr Edwin Hertzog, and others. In the last years of his life, he focused increasingly on this issue. Prof JP was a tireless campaigner, speaking on the radio, giving talks and raising awareness about the need to legalise assisted dying in South Africa as recently as earlier this year as part of UCT’s Summer School this year.
DignitySA’s Chairperson, Prof Willem Landman, recollects that, “Prof JP was a wonderful mix of thoughtfulness, gentleness and calm, yet with inner strength, resolve and even stubbornness. He was a friend and mentor. His moral support during DignitySA’s four-year preparation for our assisted-dying court challenge, especially during times when we wavered or even despaired, was a haven for us. JP was a champion for and patron of palliative care. Yet he had an unstinting belief in the good of assisted dying, and in its rightful place in end-of-life care, publicly expressed when most others kept silent.”
From a family member, we learnt that in his final days, Prof JP spoke passionately and positively about the progress that DignitySA has been making and our imminent court challenge. We are happy to know that he was heartened by our efforts and that he felt hopeful. He will remain an enduring source of inspiration to us.
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
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