South Africa has withdrawn its Draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy after researchers found that several of its 67 academic citations were fabricated by generative AI. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies pulled the document, which had been published in the Government Gazette on 10 April 2026 for public comment.
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At least six citations either do not exist or point to articles never published in the journals named. Editors of the South African Journal of Philosophy, AI and Society and the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy independently confirmed the credited articles were not in their archives. The drafters appear to have used a generative AI tool, the same technology the policy was meant to govern, without verifying its output. The withdrawal restarts substantial portions of the public consultation process, with no revised draft timeline announced.
Sources: CNBC Africa, Semafor, Rappler, The Conversation