Source: ITWeb

A Labour Court in Johannesburg on 22 Jul 2026 stayed disciplinary proceedings against three Matjhabeng Local Municipality employees after finding prima facie evidence that the chairperson of the hearing may have relied on AI-generated, “hallucinated” legal authorities in key rulings. The applicants argued that, apart from one correctly cited case, several authorities cited in a June ruling either did not exist or did not support the propositions for which they were cited, and the court found several cited judgments could not be verified. The municipality contended the chairperson might have intended to refer to different authorities and that the legal principles remained sound, but the court rejected that defence and noted the chairperson failed to explain the erroneous citations when given the opportunity.

The judgement, handed down by Judge K Allen‑Yaman, drew on precedent including the 2023 Gauteng High Court decision in Parker v Forsyth, a recent English High Court warning about AI producing plausible but fabricated material, and a July 2026 Supreme Court of India ruling condemning reliance on “non‑existent, fake and hallucinated material.” The court stopped short of concluding definitively that AI had been used but held there was sufficient evidence to question the chairperson’s reasoning, warning that if the citations were generated by an AI assistant the ruling could not stand. Finding exceptional circumstances and that continuing the hearing risked wasting parties’ time and resources, the Labour Court stayed the disciplinary proceedings pending the outcome of a review application and made no order as to costs.