The Department of Home Affairs in South Africa has suspended two officials after discovering AI-generated "hallucinations" in a revised white paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection. The Chief Director of the citizenship and immigration unit was suspended Thursday, with another director involved in drafting to be suspended at the start of next week.

The department acknowledged the "embarrassment caused" when discrepancies were found in the reference list attached to the document. These references were deemed "hallucinations" - fictitious citations generated by AI that do not appear in the body of the text. DHA appointed two independent law firms to manage the disciplinary process and review all policy documents dating back to 30 November 2022, when ChatGPT was released.

This incident follows the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies withdrawing its own AI policy document last week after discovering fictitious sources and citations. Minister Solly Malatsi stated AI-generated citations were included without proper verification. DHA maintains the revised policy content itself "continues to accurately reflect the government's position" despite the reference list issues.

The department accepted AI's growing role in society, stating institutions must "adapt to keep up" with the transformative but disruptive technology.