Sacred Dying SA

This information is for those of you who don’t have your affairs in order. Make sure all bank accounts have direct beneficiaries. The beneficiary need only go to the bank with your death certificate and an ID of their own.

- TOD = Transfer On Death deed if you own a home. Completing this document and filing it with the court saves your heirs thousands. This document allows you to transfer ownership of your home to your designee. All they need to do is take their ID and your Death Certificate and they will then have the deed signed over. Az

- Living Will: Allows one to put in writing exactly what you want done in the event you cannot speak for yourself when it comes to healthcare decisions.

- Durable Power of Attorney: Allows one to designate a person to make legal decisions if one is no longer competent to do so.

- Power of Attorney for Healthcare: This me document allows one to designate someone to make healthcare decisions for their person.

- Last Will and Testament: Designates to whom personal belongings will go too.

- Funeral Planning Declaration: States one’s wishes as far as disposition of the body and the service/s.

- If the above documents are completed, you can AVOID probate. If all the above is not done, you have to open an estate account at the bank. All money that doesn’t have direct beneficiaries goes into this account. You have to have your executor to open the estate account. The executor also has to publicize your death in the newspaper or post publication at the courts, to allow anyone to make a claim on your property. - It’s a complete nuisance.

- Make a list of all banks and account numbers, all investment institutions with account numbers, lists of credit cards, utility accounts, etc. Leave clear instructions as to how and when these things are paid. Make sure heirs knows where life insurance policies are located.

- Make 100% sure SOMEONE knows all of your social media account logins and passwords!

- Make sure you have the registration documents for all vehicles, campers, motorcycles etc

- MOST IMPORTANTLY!- Talk with those closest to you and make all your wishes KNOWN. Talk to those whom you have designated, as well as those close to you whom you did not designate. - Do this to explain why your decisions were made and to avoid any lingering questions or hurt feelings.

Hope this lights a spark to encourage all your friends and family to take care of these things and to make it easier for those we all leave behind. There is no template for these documents. these are quite simply, written documents, in your own words, and an exercise in just instructing your wishes to be carried out in detail in plain English.

The above list at least helps you start an important conversation with your loved ones.

Tune into YFM radio at 18.15 tonight for our interviews on Death Doulas!

This is very important news regarding a living will.

Dignity South Africa 1 like. "Dignity Dialogue:The Power of Your Section 7 Mandate - April 2026"

"Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because the regret is stronger than the gratitude." -

Send flowers, today. Say I love you, today. Say I'm sorry, today. Do it, today. Because tomorrow might not come. Be empowered by gratitude, today and everyday, and you won't have regrets.
Let death be our teacher.

Dr Peter Roos sent us a brave letter this week...

Dear Dignity SA,

I took the Hippocratic Oath in 1972. This was a solemn moment when all the graduating class embraced the concept of “Do no harm”. Hopefully over the years we have, to the best of our knowledge and ability, not performed acts which have been harmful, not relieving suffering but making it worse. Nobody recognized the concept that withholding a patients request to relieve there intolerable physical suffering could also be doing harm.

It is in the nature of all practitioners (surgeons, oncologists and palliative care practitioners etc.) not to want to surrender in the face of some diseases that have a relentless and cruel passage towards death.

We hate admitting defeat in our failure to cure a disease or to adequately manage the intolerable painful and undignified consequences of these diseases.

In the 53 years since I took the Hippocratic Oath I have seen the extreme suffering of people with ovarian cancer, metastatic breast cancer including my mother, a devout Christian whose only concern about assisted dying was the possible criminal implication for the person assisting her and people suffering the indignity of degenerative illnesses, where they were unable to attend to any bodily function including swallowing.

I have the greatest respect for Palliative Care practitioners. They are dedicated, kind, empathetic and hard working supporters of those suffering from terminal illness using the best available science. They provide important emotional support to the dying and their families.

Unfortunately, if you had listened to the interview with a palliative care doctor on a local radio station this week you will have heard many responses saying that her opinion that pain can adequately be controlled in order to relieve intolerable suffering is certainly not correct in many cases. In these cases the medical profession needs to admit defeat and say, ’‘We have failed to cure this disease and we are failing to relieve the suffering associated with it. We now need to listen to the patient who may want to continue living or may be asking us to help them in escaping their suffering and assist them in dying.”

At no stage should one consider administering a lethal dose of a drug unless the patient has requested it. Furthermore, I would only consider it after consultation with another specialist in the field and we confirmed that every effort, using the best scientific methods, had been made to cure the disease and relieve the suffering associated with it.

In summary I give my full support to changing the law in South Africa to allow Medical Assistance in Dying for those who request it in order to escape the intolerable physical suffering associated with incurable terminal illness.

Kind regards and thank you for initiating the court action,

Dr Peter Roos
MB.ChB. FRCOG.

Are you able to walk this road with Dignity South Africa? They need your voice and your support 🙏

The road to decriminalising MAiD is a long one and we need your support. To make a contribution to our legal costs please follow the link in the comments below.

How wonderful that the death doula movement is gaining momentum worldwide.

Nicole Kidman Says She’s Learning to Be a Death Doula Nicole Kidman is ready to branch out beyond acting. During a Saturday talk in San Francisco, she revealed that she is training to be a death doula.

Join us for an online Death Cafe ☕️

Looking for a safe, open space to talk about life, death, and everything in between?

Join End-of-Life Doulas Lisa Ludwig-Mackenzie (In the moments ZA) and Marie-Louise Steyn (Sitara End-of-Life Doula Services ) for an informal, heartfelt conversation.

Date: 23 April
Location: Online

There is no agenda—just honest talk, compassionate listening, and community connection. Whether you have questions or just want to listen, you are welcome here.

Registration link in the comments. We hope to see you there!

Are your end-of-life choices clear?

📝 How many of these extremely important choices have you shared with your loved ones?