The South African Patent Law precludes the grant of patents for medical methods of treating humans or animals. However, many applicants in South Africa have included second medical use claims of the type permitted by the European Patent Office ("use of compound X for preparing a medicament for treatment of disease Y") on the ground that the relevant provisions of the South African law are modeled on those of the European Patent Convention.

A claim of this type was before the court in the case of Elan Transdermal Limited v. Ciba Geigy. The court not only upheld the validity of such a claim but also found infringement in the production of a transdermal nicotine patch for use in assisting withdrawal from smoking.