Tears, then collapse as Mbalula welcomes ANC court victory
JOHANNESBURG — ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula received medical attention after collapsing during a media briefing on Thursday, shortly after the Constitutional Court cleared the way for 181 previously excluded ANC candidates to contest the municipal elections.
Mbalula had broken down in tears while welcoming the ruling at Constitution Hill. During the subsequent briefing, he said he was not feeling well before slumping and being assisted by party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu.
Bhengu took over the briefing and told journalists that he was receiving medical attention, eNCA reported. No medical explanation for the incident was immediately confirmed.
The court victory followed weeks of uncertainty over the ANC’s nominations in six municipalities. The party had challenged its candidates’ exclusion after failing to complete the final submission step on the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s online system.
By a majority, the Constitutional Court upheld the ANC’s appeal against the earlier Electoral Court decision. The outcome allows the affected candidates to be included in the 4 November local government elections.
The court’s reasons were still outstanding when the ruling was reported. It was therefore not yet clear which legal arguments the majority accepted or how its decision might affect other parties with incomplete submissions.
The dispute centred on the IEC’s “Submit as Final” button. The ANC argued that it had completed nomination forms, uploaded supporting documents and paid the required deposits before the deadline, and that electoral legislation did not expressly require the additional click.
The commission maintained that the final step was necessary to confirm a party’s intention to contest with a completed list. It argued that information saved on the system could not automatically be treated as a final nomination.
The affected municipalities are Port St Johns, Ingquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, Mangaung in the Free State and uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal.
For Mbalula, the dispute had also become an internal accountability issue. His office faced criticism over the nomination failure, although ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe urged the organisation to await the court’s decision before addressing responsibility.
Speaking after the ruling, Mbalula thanked President Cyril Ramaphosa and other party leaders for supporting the legal challenge. He said the experience had caused sleepless nights and taken a toll on him.
I get why Fikile collapsed. He has just survived what is easily his amongst his worst administrative blunders which almost affected 181 ANC candidates. I’d faint too out of being overwhelmed by total disbelief.
Incompetence has just reclaimed its shine. All thanks to the Constitutional Court🤩Loved his unwarranted jab though; that the ANC must deal with its GNU frenemy, the DA decisively for the latter’s role in the litigation: “We must review (sic) the DA in the GNU…”. Trouble in paradise🥰 https://t.co/Ss7ZmcyzFZ
— Vusi Sambo (@VusiSambo) October 15, 2026
He also called for the ANC to review its relationship with the DA in the Government of National Unity, following the DA’s opposition to the appeal. His remarks were a political demand, rather than an announcement of a formal change to the governing arrangement.
The immediate electoral consequence is that the ANC can restore the affected nominations. The wider implications for other parties, and the court’s interpretation of electronic submission requirements, await its reasons.
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