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File: Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Solly Malatsi.
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi says there will be consequences for officials who drafted the National Artificial Intelligence Policy, which was found to have contained fictitious academic references.
In a statement released on Sunday, Malatsi announced the withdrawal of the policy after internal investigations confirmed that the draft policy contained AI-generated citations.
WATCH | Minister Solly Malatsi says before the verification of the sources came under scrutiny, they were getting positive reviews on the substance of the policy. He says it is all under review and a process of consequence management is underway. pic.twitter.com/amnBL0eayW
— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 27, 2026
This comes after the policy’s credibility was called into question. Malatsi has issued an apology to the nation, saying that an internal accountability process is currently underway.
“So we’ve got a process that is currently underway, which will result in consequence management, and that’s spearheaded by the Director General. And what we will do and what I’ve committed to do is that we’ll make and communicate the several steps as and when they develop so that we can showcase to South Africa our determined actions in correcting this wrong incident.”
VIDEO | AI Draft Policy withdrawn:
