South Africa’s (SA) Communications Minister Solly Malatsi established an independent panel of experts to review a draft national policy on Artificial \u200bIntelligence (AI), after an earlier version was withdrawn when it was \u200bfound to contain fictitious and potentially AI-generated references.<\/p>\n
Malatsi \u2060briefed a parliamentary committee on Tuesday after pulling the earlier \u200bdraft. The target publication date for public comment is January 2027, \u200baccording to Jeanette Morwane, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies acting Deputy Director-General.<\/p>\n
The policy, released in April for public comment, sought to position South \u200bAfrica as a continental leader in AI innovation while addressing ethical \u200band economic concerns.<\/p>\n
Malatsi said internal checks had not flagged the issues before they \u200cwere \u2060exposed by online news publication News24. He added that the draft was meant to be a starting point to invite public input and much of the policy’s content had not faced significant \u200bchallenge. But he \u200backnowledged a “massive oversight” \u2060and a lack of disclosure around AI use in compiling the references.<\/p>\n
Among other things, the new \u200bseven-member panel will review the document, recommend revisions \u200bor \u2060removals and replace flawed citations, with a revised policy expected to go to the Cabinet by November 2026 for approval, Morwane said.<\/p>\n
Two \u2060officials have \u200bbeen placed on precautionary suspension pending \u200ban investigation. Director-General Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani said the incident was “highly regrettable,” adding that withdrawal was \u200bnecessary to restore credibility.<\/p>\n
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