South Africa Urged To Prepare For AI-Driven Cybercrime Threat

Deputy Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele has warned that South Africa must urgently prepare for the age of artificial intelligence (AI) to protect citizens against scams, fraud, and cyberattacks.

Speaking at the Guardians of the Digital World panel on AI and cybersecurity at the University of Witwatersrand, Gungubele highlighted the role of academic institutions in shaping a safer digital future.

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“The localisation agenda cannot succeed without the intellectual energy of our campuses,” said Gungubele.

He stressed the importance of balancing AI innovation with safety. “We must prepare South Africa for the age of AI. We must do so in a way that protects privacy, secures our people from scams and cyberattacks, ensures transparency, and shares the benefits widely.”

Universities Key to Building Cybersecurity Expertise

According to Gungubele, universities have a critical responsibility to train engineers and cybersecurity experts capable of combating increasingly sophisticated AI-driven threats.

“We need social scientists and ethicists to help us design norms and safeguards that protect human dignity,” he said. “We need researchers to design watermarking tools that expose deepfakes before they spread.”

AI-powered scams such as deepfakes and phishing are becoming harder to detect, making research and education essential for defending against them.

Banks Warn of Rising AI-Driven Fraud in South Africa

South African banks are already witnessing the dangers of AI-enabled scams. FNB recently cautioned customers about fraudsters using AI-generated voices, videos, and messages to impersonate bank staff or family members in order to steal money.

“In some cases, the scams can be incredibly sophisticated, leveraging deepfakes, voice synthesis, and automated chatbots to appear more legitimate,” FNB warned. “As a result, the losses can be substantial, and some victims may lose millions before realising they’ve been scammed.”

FNB shared examples, including fake investment schemes featuring AI-generated videos of bogus CEOs, as well as email scams where fraudsters impersonate executives to trick employees into transferring large sums of money.

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