South Africa adopted a National AI Policy Framework in August 2024, setting a strategic direction for AI development, governance, and skills across the economy. The framework endorses curriculum reforms including coding and robotics through the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) and identifies the development of AI skills as a national priority. In October 2025, the Department of Higher Education and Training signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft South Africa on AI and digital skills development, aiming to reach one million South Africans with digital and AI skills by 2026.
South Africa faces compounding literacy challenges: more than 80% of Grade 4 students cannot read for meaning in any of the country’s official languages, representing a foundational literacy barrier that precedes and compounds AI literacy gaps. The National AI Policy Framework is a strategic document, not legislation.
Who it affects: Higher education students and workers targeted by the Microsoft partnership; school students through curriculum reform provisions; workers and job seekers through planned AI upskilling initiatives. The framework addresses governance institutions without creating a new dedicated AI regulator.
What is notably missing: The framework is not legally binding legislation; it sets policy direction without enforceable obligations on employers, schools, or institutions. Curriculum reforms endorsed in CAPS focus on introductory coding and robotics rather than a standalone AI literacy and ethics curriculum. South Africa has no law requiring employers to train all staff in AI use or ethics. The foundational literacy crisis in primary and secondary education is a structural barrier to AI literacy that the policy framework does not address directly.