South Africa's Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has withdrawn the draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy following revelations of fictitious sources in its references, likely generated by AI tools. The errors impacted three of the policy's six pillars, leading to internal probes and commitments to accountability. Malatsi described the lapse as a key reason for needing stronger human oversight in AI use.
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi announced the withdrawal of the draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy after confirming that its reference list included various fictitious sources. "Following revelations that the draft national artificial intelligence policy published for public comment contains various fictitious sources in its reference list, we have initiated internal questions which have now confirmed that this was the case," Malatsi stated in a media release.
The department identified AI-generated citations included without proper verification as the most plausible explanation. One example involved a citation of 'Müller Schmidt 2024' in the European Journal of Law and Technology to support high-risk AI categorisation and data sovereignty frameworks, though the paper does not exist. These issues affected three pillars: Capacity and Talent Development, Economic Transformation, and Responsible Governance, covering over a third of the document.
In response, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies halted public comments and committed to consequence management. "There will be consequence management for those responsible for drafting and quality assurance," Malatsi said, adding that the matter is being treated with the gravity it deserves.
Malatsi highlighted the irony, noting, "In fact, this unacceptable lapse proves why vigilant human oversight over the use of artificial intelligence is critical." The policy lead, Dumisani Sondlo, had earlier described the development process at GovTech 2025 as "an act of acknowledging that we don’t know enough."
