South Africa Suspends Immigration Officials Over AI-Generated References in Policy Documents

The South African Department of Home Affairs has suspended two senior officials following the discovery of fabricated references in a draft policy paper. The suspensions come as governments worldwide grapple with responsible AI adoption.

The affected officials—a chief director and a director—were involved in drafting the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection, which had already been approved by cabinet. According to department spokesperson Leon Schreiber, the white paper contained “hallucinations” or fabricated references that were not part of the actual document.

This incident highlights growing concerns about AI accuracy and oversight in government operations. Similar issues have emerged recently with South Africa’s communications ministry pushing out an AI policy containing invented citations.

The suspensions reflect a more proactive approach than seen previously, particularly given political tensions between the Democratic Alliance (DA) party—to which both suspended officials belong—and the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling coalition partner. The DA has been criticized for its handling of similar issues in the past.

With this latest development, South Africa’s government departments are now under increased scrutiny to ensure policy documents are thoroughly vetted and free from AI-generated errors.