Incident Tracker
4 verified incidents · as of 2026-09-03
2026-07-31Regulatory referral
FJL v TGO, Case No. 2025/220239 (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg, full court)A full court of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Johannesburg, upheld an acting judge's findings in a parenting dispute but identified at least eleven fictitious or garbled citations in his judgment, most plausibly AI hallucinations. Opperman J referred the acting judge to the Legal Practice Council, highlighting an accountability gap for acting judges.
2026-07-13Other
Molawa and Others v Matjhabeng Local Municipality and Another, Case No. 2026-157576 (Labour Court, Durban)Municipal employees applied urgently to the Labour Court of South Africa in Durban to halt a disciplinary hearing after their lawyers found the presiding chairperson's ruling relied on labour-court authorities that do not exist. The court recorded the fictitious citations in its 13 July 2026 judgment; the court stayed the disciplinary hearing pending determination of the review application.
2025-06-30Regulatory referral
Northbound Processing (Pty) Ltd v South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator (2025/072038) [2025] ZAGPJHC 661In this Gauteng High Court (South Africa) urgent mining-licence application, counsel's heads of argument cited fake authorities generated by the AI tool 'Legal Genius'. Smit AJ granted Northbound interim relief but, invoking the Article 16(1) reporting duty, referred the practitioners to the Legal Practice Council — the second such South African referral after Mavundla.
2025-01-08Regulatory referral
Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs, KZN (7940/2024P) [2025] ZAKZPHC 2In this KwaZulu-Natal High Court (South Africa) leave-to-appeal ruling, the applicant's papers cited non-existent authorities generated via ChatGPT by a candidate attorney and unchecked by counsel. Bezuidenhout J called AI-reliance irresponsible, dismissed the application with costs, ordered wasted costs against the firm, and referred the matter to the Legal Practice Council.
SafeLegalAIrecords: safelegalai.com/tracker/south-africa · CC BY 4.0