Regulation Tracker / South Africa
Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy (published GN 3880 of 2026; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026)
Department of Communications and Digital Technologies
last revised 2026-04-10last verified 2026-09-042 versionscountry page →
country page →PolicyWithdrawnRisk classificationDisclosure
map categories:Horizontal AI statuteSanctions for AI misuse
South Africa's draft national AI policy, gazetted for comment on 10 April 2026, proposed new oversight bodies including a National AI Commission. It was withdrawn in its entirety on 12 June 2026 after reporting established that several of its 67 academic citations — journals and authors alike — did not exist, apparently AI hallucinations in the policy's own drafting.
- Applies to
- all, providers
- Effective
- See version history
- Current version
- Draft for public comment · 10 Apr 2026
- Last verified
- 04 Sept 2026
What the document requires
- Published as General Notice 3880 in Government Gazette 54477 on 10 April 2026 for public comment until 10 June 2026.
- Withdrawn in its entirety by Notice 3978 of 2026 in Government Gazette 54840, dated 12 June 2026 and signed 4 June 2026 by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.
- Cabinet approved the withdrawal to allow a rework establishing national standards on the ethical use of AI.
- The withdrawal is the clearest South African precedent that AI-fabricated citations invalidate an official document.
Version history
| Version | Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft for public commentcurrent | 2026-04-10 | Approved by Cabinet 25 March 2026 (and a special sitting on 1 April 2026); published as General Notice 3880 in Government Gazette 54477 for comment to 10 June 2026. | official |
| Withdrawal | 2026-06-12 | Withdrawn in its entirety by Notice 3978 of 2026, Government Gazette 54840 (signed by Minister Solly Malatsi on 4 June 2026), after the draft was found to contain fabricated academic citations generated by AI. | official |
Sources
Cite this record
SafeLegalAI Legal AI Regulation Tracker, "Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy (published GN 3880 of 2026; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026)" (Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, Draft for public comment, 2026-04-10), safelegalai.com/regulation/south-africa/za-draft-national-ai-policy-withdrawn (accessed 2026-09-04). Data: CC BY 4.0.
More official documents in South Africa
- 2026 Judiciary Conference Resolutions, Section 5 — Information Communication Technology, Digitisation and Artificial Intelligence · SA Judiciary Conference
- Revised Ethics Guidelines for Legal Practitioners in South Africa on the Use of Generative AI · LSSA AI Committee
- Draft Policy on Artificial Intelligence for the Judiciary in South Africa · OCJ