What happened
In April 2026, South Africa published a draft of its national plan for artificial intelligence, for the public to comment on. It set out new bodies to oversee AI, and tax breaks and grants to help businesses use it.
Within weeks, the news site News24 found a problem. At least six of the 67 sources listed at the back of the plan did not exist, including articles in academic journals that were “completely fictitious.”
At the end of April, Communications Minister Solly Malatsi withdrew the plan.
Why it went wrong
Malatsi said: “The most plausible explanation is that AI-generated citations were included without proper verification. This should not have happened.” Someone used an AI tool to help write the plan, and nobody checked the sources it added.
Impact
- The public comment period was stopped. A new draft will come later.
- Malatsi said the failure “has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy,” and promised “consequence management” for those responsible.
- It was a government plan for AI, undone by AI.
The lesson
- Every source in an official document needs checking by a person.
- The more important the document, the more checking it needs.
- Outside eyes help. A news site caught this, not the people who wrote it.