ABOUT US

About DIGNITYSA

The registered Non-Profit Organisation DignitySA was founded as a consequence of Professor Sean Davison’s arrest in New Zealand in September 2010 on an attempted murder charge. In a leaked book manuscript, he admitted to giving his terminally ill mother Patricia Ferguson, 85, a lethal dose of morphine. During his High Court jury trial, Davison was cleared of attempted murder after agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser charge of assisted suicide, for which he was sentenced to a five-month house arrest.

On his return to South Africa, Professors Sean Davison and Willem Landman officially founded DignitySA.

Sean Davis, dying with dignity activist, and his Mom.

Our vision

A South Africa where every person is supported throughout life's final journey with compassionate care, dignity, and the freedom to choose their own path.

Our mission

We pursue advocacy and collaboration alongside legal and healthcare reform initiatives so that South African adults can access the full range of end-of-life care options with their choices respected and legally protected.  

Two women sitting on a couch, one with a headscarf to cover her shaven head, and the other hugging her from behind. The woman with the headscarf has a thoughtful expression, while the other woman appears content and comforting.

our Focus areas

  • Palliative Care:

    Advocate for improved access to high-quality palliative care, ensuring optimal pain management and comprehensive support for all South Africans with terminal or intractable conditions. 

  • Withholding and withdrawal of life-sustaining care:

    Support patients' and families' right to refuse or discontinue life-sustaining medical treatments when they determine that the burdens outweigh the benefits.

  • Advance Healthcare Directives:

    Champion the legal recognition and enforcement of advance directives, ensuring that healthcare professionals honour patients' documented wishes regarding their end-of-life care, including decisions about life-sustaining treatment.

  • Assisted dying:

    Lead legal reform initiatives to establish and protect the right of informed adults facing terminal or irremediable conditions causing intolerable suffering to request medical assistance in dying when all other acceptable treatment options have been exhausted.

Executive

Advisory Trustees

  • Sean Davison

  • Janet Jobson

  • Mark Heywood