South Africa’s communications minister, Solly Malatsi, is under pressure to withdraw the country’s draft artificial intelligence policy after fresh allegations that parts of its reference list were generated with AI and include citations to works that do not appear to exist.

News24 reported that the 86-page draft, published in the Government Gazette on 10 April and opened for public comment, contains a series of academic references that could not be verified, with editors of several journals confirming that the articles attributed to them were never published. The allegations have deepened scrutiny of a document that was already drawing criticism for the scale of its proposed regulatory overhaul.

The controversy has quickly spilled into politics. Khusela Diko, the ANC MP who chairs parliament’s communications committee, called for the draft to be scrapped and resubmitted after a proper review, while public works minister Dean Macpherson, of the DA, defended Mr Malatsi and dismissed the criticism as political theatre. Phumzile van Damme, a former DA communications spokesperson and now a disinformation consultant, also said the policy should be withdrawn, arguing that responsibility for checking the document could not simply be shifted on to junior staff.

The department has said it is investigating the claims. On X, Mr Malatsi said he had instructed the director-general to look into the matter and act against anyone found to have done wrong. The episode has become politically awkward for the DA, which has presented itself as a party of cleaner governance since joining the government of national unity in 2024.

Even before the fake-citation row emerged, the draft policy had faced resistance from industry figures over its substance. Technology investor Stafford Masie warned in an open letter that the proposals risked creating a heavy new bureaucracy before the state had committed to the computing infrastructure needed to make AI policy credible. The draft sets out a broad framework for AI governance and says it is intended as a starting point rather than final law.

Published after cabinet approval on 25 March, the draft proposes the creation of seven new bodies, including a National AI Commission, an AI Ethics Board, an AI Insurance Superfund and a National AI Safety Institute. According to legal and policy analyses of the document, the 60-day comment period runs until 10 June, and the government sees the policy as the basis for future legislation and sector-specific rules rather than an immediately binding regime.

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Source: Noah Wire Services