# South Africa

- **Record type**: Jurisdiction profile
- **Short name**: South Africa
- **ISO code**: ZA
- **Type**: country
- **Region**: Africa / Southern Africa

## In brief

South Africa has 1 recorded AI policy instrument, none of them binding. Instruments on record: Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (2026, policy, archived). Every record here links to its official source and states its verification status. Approved by Cabinet in March/April 2026 and gazetted for a 60-day comment period, the draft policy proposed guiding principles, institutional arrangements and implementation…

## Overview

Approved by Cabinet in March/April 2026 and gazetted for a 60-day comment period, the draft policy proposed guiding principles, institutional arrangements and implementation pathways for AI across the public and private sectors, building on the department's 2024 National AI Policy Framework.

## Regulatory status

Instruments on record: Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (2026, policy, archived). Each is linked to its official source; human verification pending.

## What is binding and what is guidance

Binding: none recorded. Strategy or guidance: Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence.

## How to use this profile

- Open the official source on each instrument before relying on any date or obligation.
- Treat strategies and guidance as signals of coming regulation, not as binding requirements.

## Official sources

- Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy — Government Gazette No. 54477, Notice 3880 of 2026 (DCDT) — https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202604/54477gen3880.pdf

## Instruments recorded for this jurisdiction (1)

- **Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy** — Policy, Archived, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/south-africa-draft-south-africa-national-artificial-intelligence
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/south-africa-draft-south-africa-national-artificial-intelligence.md

## Provenance

- **Record page**: https://aipolicytracker.org/jurisdictions/south-africa
- **Official source**: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202604/54477gen3880.pdf
- **Source document**: Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
- **Published by**: Government Gazette No. 54477, Notice 3880 of 2026 (DCDT)
- **Review status**: verified
- **Confidence**: medium
- **Facts last confirmed**: 2026-09-26
- **Confirmed by**: Bhaskar Bhatt (see https://aipolicytracker.org/reviewers)
- **Retrieved**: 2026-10-27
- **Licence**: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

> This record is a structured summary with a link to the official text. It is not legal advice. Open the official source before relying on any date or duty. How current each record type must be is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/verification; what a record must carry at all is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/coverage.