WATCH | – ‘You’re not going back to work’: Ramaphosa orders Mbalula to rest

Ramaphosa

Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula to take time off to recover after he collapsed during a media briefing following the party’s Constitutional Court victory over the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

Ramaphosa provided an update on Mbalula’s condition while campaigning in Cape Town on Saturday, saying the senior party official was recovering after enduring significant pressure over the dispute involving 181 ANC councillor candidates excluded from the November 4 local government elections.

“He was under a lot of stress… he was carrying a heavy burden, as any secretary-general would,” Ramaphosa said.

The president added that Mbalula would not resume his duties until his recovery had been confirmed.

“I ordered him to rest, and said ‘you’re not going back to work until I and the doctors are satisfied that you are fully OK,” he said.

Mbalula collapsed on Thursday, October 15, after becoming emotional while addressing journalists at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. The briefing followed the Constitutional Court’s decision to overturn an Electoral Court ruling that had upheld the exclusion of the 181 ANC candidates.

According to SABC News, Mbalula had been deeply troubled by the possibility that voters in affected communities would be unable to vote for ANC candidates.

“How will I live with a decision that in 2026, under my leadership, as the boss of the ANC, people could not vote?” he said during the briefing, describing the emotional toll of the dispute.

Independent Online (IOL) reported that ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu took over the briefing after Mbalula collapsed and confirmed that he was receiving medical attention.

The Constitutional Court ruling cleared the way for the 181 candidates to contest the elections in six municipalities across the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. The dispute arose after the ANC’s candidate nominations were not marked as finally submitted on the IEC’s electronic nomination system before the deadline.

The court victory came amid internal ANC tensions over the handling of the candidate-list controversy. In its coverage, The Citizen also reported that Mbalula had accused some party members of exploiting the dispute to advance factional interests.

Ramaphosa praised Mbalula’s handling of the matter, saying he had led the party through the challenge “with great distinction”, while stressing that his health and recovery must take priority before he returns to work.

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