The Western Cape University professor who helped his terminally-ill mother die in New Zealand said the time was ripe for South Africa to debate legalising euthanasia.
“I believe the current law does not reflect the mood in the country for a law change,” Sean Davison told reporters at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Friday.
“(We have) launched a petition online to give people the opportunity to show their support for a law change, to allow assisted dying.”
Over 380 people had already added their signatures to the petition on Dignity SA's website, which called for a bill to be brought before Parliament.
Davison said he was drafting the bill with an unnamed MP.
The UWC would hold a series of talks in which people with opposing views could debate the issue.
Davison returned to South Africa on Wednesday after serving a five-month detention.
He wrote a book called “Before We Say Goodbye”, published in 2009, in which he wrote that when he returned to New Zealand to look after his cancer-stricken mother, she asked him to help her die.
She had gone on a hunger strike to try to end her life.
He crushed several morphine tablets and mixed the powder with water, which she drank.
Davison pleaded guilty in the Dunedin High Court last year to a lesser charge of inciting and procuring his mother to commit suicide. He was originally charged with attempted murder and was arrested in September 2010.
“In the end, she was an elderly lady waiting to die,” Davison said of his mom.
“It got the point where she couldn't take her own life. She wasn't the type of person to ask for help... (but she did ask for help) and after some very deep thought I helped her.” – Sapa