Retired
advocate Robin Stransham-Ford, 65, was reported to be heavily sedated
and a statement from his family did not say whether he died before or
after the ruling.
"Since receiving
the heartening news of the ground-breaking judgement, we are deeply
saddened to announce that Robin has passed away," the family said.
"It was in the presence of his family and carers that Robin died peacefully."
Dignity SA, which lobbies for assisted suicide legislation, said that Stransham-Ford "died peacefully of natural causes".
The
High Court in Pretoria on Thursday ruled that Stransham-Ford, who
suffered from prostate cancer, could have a doctor help him end his
life, and that the doctor would be protected from prosecution.
MEDICALLY-ASSISTED SUICIDE
Medically-assisted suicide remains illegal in South Africa, but there have been growing calls for it to be legalised.
Judge
Hans Fabricius said in his ruling that Stransham-Ford was entitled "to
end his life, either by administration of a lethal agent or by providing
the applicant with the necessary lethal agent to administer himself."
Dignity SA said it expected the judge's decision to "set in motion the process of legalising assisted dying in South Africa."
Assisted suicide is illegal in many parts of the world.
Switzerland is one of the few countries in Europe that allows doctors help patients end their lives.
In
February, Canada's supreme court lifted a ban on doctor-assisted
suicide for mentally competent adults suffering from an incurable
disease.
A South African professor,
Sean Davison, was in 2010 found guilty by a New Zealand court of helping
his cancer-stricken mother take her own life by giving her a lethal
dose of morphine.
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