South Africa to submit its revised National AI Policy to Cabinet by March 2027
“This process is following a phased approach, with the aim of submitting a revised policy to Cabinet by March 2027.”
Context: Written reply by South Africa's Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, to parliamentary question NW5301 from Mr S G Vilakazi, published on 15 Oct 2026 (reply file RNW5301-2026-10-15), on the Expert Review Panel reviewing the Draft National AI Policy, which was withdrawn in May 2026 after fabricated academic references were found. The same day Malatsi told TechCabal the government "remains confident that Cabinet will finalise the replacement AI policy before the end of March 2027, with public consultation expected to begin in April" (TechCabal's words); he denied that this was a new deadline. In September he had said: "The goal is to ensure that by the end of the financial year [March 2027] … we have a draft AI policy that we can present before Cabinet" (iAfrica, 25 Sep 2026), although officials had earlier told Parliament November 2026. Sources: (1) Parliamentary Monitoring Group, Question NW5301 and reply; (2) TechCabal, "Malatsi wants South Africa's AI policy back on track after false start" (15 Oct 2026); (3) Diplo / Digital Watch, "South Africa sets out next steps for national AI policy" (16 Oct 2026); (4) iAfrica.com (25 Sep 2026).
How we judge it
Our interpretation: kept if by 31 Mar 2027 the revised National AI Policy has been submitted to South Africa's Cabinet, as shown by a Cabinet statement (for example approving it for publication for public comment), a statement by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, a parliamentary reply or credible reporting; broken if it has not been submitted to Cabinet by then. A draft released only for internal government input does not count.
Resolution criteria are our interpretation of the claim, written before grading. Methodology
- Said
- Resolve by
- Due in 144 days
- Verdict
- Pending
- Stated probability
- None stated
- Specificity
- 3 of 3 (precise and measurable)
Share this scorecard
Post on X LinkedIn Share image (PNG)
Embed / Cite
The embedded card is live: it shows the current verdict, with the date the data was read. If a verdict is corrected later, the card changes too, so cite the page and its date for a fixed record.