--- title: South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested description: South Africa has not been invited to join Pax Silica, the US-led AI supply-chain pact signed in Washington in December 2025 and now backed by 24 signatories... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested | daily.dev og:description: South Africa has not been invited to join Pax Silica, the US-led AI supply-chain pact signed in Washington in December 2025 and now backed by 24 signatories... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/8up9uADyB.png og:image:alt: South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary South Africa has not been invited to join Pax Silica, the US-led AI supply-chain pact signed in Washington in December 2025 and now backed by 24 signatories including Japan, the EU, the UK, Germany, India, the UAE and Israel. Communications minister Solly Malatsi says Pretoria would weigh any approach on its merits but is not confirming any outreach, while maintaining a stance of neutrality. The pact ties together chips, energy and critical-minerals refining, and the US state department has proposed a $250-million fund for mineral extraction and processing. South Africa mines roughly 70% of the world's platinum and 38% of its manganese yet sits outside the arrangement steering investment and licensing tied to those minerals. Pretoria is a founding member of China's rival Waico bloc, and a leaked US letter warns signatories of the separate Joint Statement on AI Opportunity against also joining Beijing's group, with officials warning countries cannot have it both ways. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the Pax Silica Declaration and which countries have signed it? Pax Silica is the US state department's flagship declaration on AI and supply-chain security, signed in Washington on December 12, 2025. It has 24 signatories after a second summit in June, including Japan, the EU, the UK, Germany, India, the UAE and Israel, plus Taiwan as a non-signatory participant. No African country has signed it. _Track how AI supply-chain alliances reshape global tech partnerships by following policy coverage on daily.dev._ ### Why hasn't South Africa joined Pax Silica despite being a major minerals producer? South Africa has not been approached to join, according to communications minister Solly Malatsi, who maintains a policy of neutrality rather than choosing sides between US and China-led AI blocs. This is notable because South Africa mines roughly 70% of the world's platinum and about 38% of its manganese, both critical to AI supply chains, yet remains outside the arrangement steering related investment and licensing. _Follow how mineral-rich nations navigate AI supply chain alliances on daily.dev._ ### What is Waico and how does it relate to Pax Silica? Waico, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, is a China-led AI alliance with 29 founding members, roughly 10 of them African, that South Africa co-founded. A leaked US state department letter warns signatories of a separate American declaration against also joining Beijing's bloc, since the US views Waico as a duplicative initiative incompatible with Pax Silica; Kazakhstan is so far the only country known to belong to both. _daily.dev helps readers monitor competing AI alliances shaping global tech and mineral policy._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Solly Malatsi stakes South Africa’s AI future on staying neutral](https://daily.dev/posts/solly-malatsi-stakes-south-africa-s-ai-future-on-staying-neutral-5jqbajnho) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The EU signs up to Pax Silica, the US-led chip pact France called colonisation](https://daily.dev/posts/the-eu-signs-up-to-pax-silica-the-us-led-chip-pact-france-called-colonisation-f7q3pxouo) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Draft AI policy: South Africa ‘too dependent’ on US, China](https://daily.dev/posts/draft-ai-policy-south-africa-too-dependent-on-us-china-nsf3eegwm) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Beijing’s AI master plan has South Africa in its sights](https://daily.dev/posts/beijing-s-ai-master-plan-has-south-africa-in-its-sights-xlk2xgqqx) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-governance](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-governance) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T13:12:50.735Z","dateModified":"2026-08-20T13:13:40.203Z","description":"South Africa has not been invited to join Pax Silica, the US-led AI supply-chain pact signed in Washington in December 2025 and now backed by 24 signatories...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003c2d2c27d200d3825aa0a2f75609e0?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003c2d2c27d200d3825aa0a2f75609e0?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCentral","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCentral","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--RsqLDZrL--/f_auto/v1717745297/logos/techcentral","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-governance","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCentral","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"South Africa’s AI neutrality has not yet been tested"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-ai-neutrality-has-not-yet-been-tested-8up9uadyb#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the Pax Silica Declaration and which countries have signed it?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pax Silica is the US state department's flagship declaration on AI and supply-chain security, signed in Washington on December 12, 2025. It has 24 signatories after a second summit in June, including Japan, the EU, the UK, Germany, India, the UAE and Israel, plus Taiwan as a non-signatory participant. No African country has signed it. Track how AI supply-chain alliances reshape global tech partnerships by following policy coverage on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why hasn't South Africa joined Pax Silica despite being a major minerals producer?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"South Africa has not been approached to join, according to communications minister Solly Malatsi, who maintains a policy of neutrality rather than choosing sides between US and China-led AI blocs. This is notable because South Africa mines roughly 70% of the world's platinum and about 38% of its manganese, both critical to AI supply chains, yet remains outside the arrangement steering related investment and licensing. 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