Abstract
South Africa faces an organ shortage crisis as the number of registered organ donors and the supply of healthy organs for transplantation is below par in comparison to the demand for healthy organs to save the lives of many individuals who are on the organ transplant wait list. As South Africa is particularly rich in cultural diversity and many Black people resort to their cultural norms, beliefs, customs and traditions when faced with making major decisions in their lives, especially end-of-life decisions along with health-related decisions. The study aimed at exploring the decision of Black South African registered organ donors, living in Gauteng, to become organ donors and the influence that cultural factors have on this decision to register as donors. The study was conceptualised through an African-centred psychology, this was to assist in gaining an understanding of whether organ donation is influenced by cultural beliefs and how exactly it may do so. A qualitative explanatory research design approach was taken in this study to help enhance the comprehension of the phenomenon studied. A non-probability sampling method was used to recruit participants, using a purposeful sampling method. Eight participants were recruited through the utilisation of an informative advertisement which was posted and share on several social media platforms such as Linked-in, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. The advertisement was also shared with the Organ Donor Foundation so they may distribute it through their mailing list. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews, using open-ended questions. Braun and Clarkes’ (2006) Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. There were four main themes from the data set, namely: African Traditional Religion; A Desire to Help; Distrust in Medical Profession; and Family Consent being the last theme. In contrast to many research findings on Black people’s perceptions of organ donation this study’s findings show that culture provides a positive influence on the decision to register as an organ donor.