Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Record ZA-01 · General Notice 3880 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54477; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54840

Issued by: Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (Minister Solly Malatsi)
Jurisdiction: South Africa
Level · region: National · Sub-Saharan Africa
Published / adopted: 2026-04-10
Last updated: 2026-06-12
Language: English
Official identifier: General Notice 3880 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54477; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54840

Summary

Cabinet-approved draft policy for public comment, proposing an EU-inspired risk-based regime phased in from unacceptable-risk to high-risk requirements, a National AI Safety Institute, an AI Regulatory Authority, an AI Ethics Board, an AI Ombudsperson, an AI Insurance Superfund, human-rights impact assessments, bias testing, explainability duties and remedies against deepfakes. It was withdrawn in full two months after publication.

Safety topics

risk-based classificationsafety instituteevaluation & testingaccountability & liabilitydeepfakes & synthetic mediatransparency & labelling

Status notes

Dated March 2026; approved by Cabinet on 25 March 2026 (combined with a special sitting of Cabinet on 1 April 2026), signed by the Minister on 9 April 2026 and gazetted on 10 April 2026 for 60 days of public comment, to 10 June 2026. It was based on the South Africa National Artificial Intelligence Policy Framework of August 2024 (ZA-02), the 32 submissions received on it and consultations through the Cabinet cluster process, and set out staged implementation: draft requirements for unacceptable risks in year 1 (2025/26), requirements for high-risk use cases in year 2 (2026/27) and full implementation in year 3 (2027/28). It was withdrawn in its entirety by Notice 3978 of 2026 (Government Gazette No. 54840), signed on 4 June 2026 and gazetted on 12 June 2026, with no reason given.

Sources

Open the official source https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202604/54477gen3880.pdf

Secondary source: https://www.gov.za/documents/notices/promotion-access-information-act-withdrawal-draft-south-africa-national

Local copy

Archived. Last attempt 2026-10-18 04:06:10 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/ZA-01/2026-10-11/official.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-11 14:02:40 UTC

SHA-256 b1c5ca6d4438ec602761526317bfd73fe75abe06f2aecc1bc15627d52807a70b

Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/ZA-01/2026-10-11/secondary.html

Retrieved 2026-10-11 14:02:43 UTC

SHA-256 0d08bdaf87efb04e88f12497cf433f015f2bf8b88dc490ba96948bfa8c9b10fe

Verification

The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched

Recheck of 18 Oct 2026. Stored: the gazetted draft (General Notice 3880 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54477, 86 pages) and the gov.za notice page 'Withdrawal of draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy' (both gov.za, 11 Oct 2026), and the withdrawal notice itself (Notice 3978 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54840, one page, gov.za, 18 Oct 2026). The gazette confirms the title, the issuing minister and department, Cabinet approval, the publication date, the comment period, the basis in the 2024 framework and the content summarised. The withdrawal notice confirms that the Minister withdrew Government Notice 3880 in its entirety, effective from publication in the gazette of 12 June 2026, and that he signed it on 4 June 2026; it gives no reason. No replacement draft is among the stored files.

Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 10 field(s) supported.

History

2026-10-18notes: Draft dated March 2026; approved by Cabinet 25 Mar 2026 (with a special Cabinet → Dated March 2026; approved by Cabinet on 25 March 2026 (combined with a special — rewritten: the signing date, the basis in the 2024 framework with its 32 submissions and the staged implementation added from the gazette; the remarks on where the gazette number comes from and on no replacement draft moved to verification.note2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-18safety_topics: ["risk-based classification", "prohibited practices", "safety institute", "evalu → ["risk-based classification", "safety institute", "evaluation & testing", "accou — prohibited practices replaced by transparency & labelling: the draft names no prohibited practices (it plans draft requirements to address unacceptable risks), while it requires explainable AI for high-risk use cases2026-10-18-recheck-mena-africa-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

Ethiopia National AI Policy Ethiopia · Published (non-binding, current)

South Africa National AI Policy Framework (2024) South Africa · Published (non-binding, current)

Citation

Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (Minister Solly Malatsi). Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy [General Notice 3880 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54477; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026, Government Gazette No. 54840]. 2026-04-10. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202604/54477gen3880.pdf. Status: Revoked / withdrawn; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/ZA-01/2026-10-11/official.pdf retrieved 2026-10-11 14:02:40 UTC, SHA-256 b1c5ca6d4438ec602761526317bfd73fe75abe06f2aecc1bc15627d52807a70b. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record ZA-01.

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