UPDATE | 4pm SAST, October 15, 2026
Mbalula receiving medical attention
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu has reassured party members and the public that secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is receiving medical attention after collapsing during a media briefing.
No further details about his condition have been confirmed in the information available.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula collapsed during a media briefing on Thursday, October 15, shortly after the Constitutional Court ruled in the party’s favour in its dispute over 181 excluded candidates for the November 4 local government elections.
The victory came with fresh political tension, as Mbalula said the ANC must reconsider the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) role in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
ConCourt clears 181 ANC candidates for local elections
The Constitutional Court set aside the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) decision to exclude the ANC’s candidate lists in six municipalities and directed the commission to take the necessary steps to include the affected nominations on the relevant ballots.
The affected municipalities are Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal and Mangaung in the Free State.
The dispute followed the ANC’s failure to click “submit as final” on the IEC’s online nomination system before the August 28 deadline, despite uploading candidate information and supporting documents.
In its September 23 Electoral Court judgment, the court found that uploading nominations without final submission did not meet the prescribed requirements.
It held that the final-submission function formed part of the electronic nomination process and that the nominations remained provisional until completed.
The Constitutional Court subsequently overturned that outcome on October 15, clearing the way for the 181 candidates to contest the elections.
The reasons for its ruling were still to follow at the time of writing.
‘I am not afraid’: Mbalula breaks down before collapsing
Mbalula became emotional as he described the personal toll of the dispute, saying the prospect of ANC-governed communities entering the elections without ANC candidates had kept him awake at night.
“I am not afraid of anything; I respect the movement,” he said, before explaining how deeply the possibility of voters being unable to vote for ANC candidates had affected him.
“How will I live with a decision that in 2026, under my leadership, as the boss of the ANC, people could not vote?” he asked.
He also defended the legal challenge, saying the right to vote should not depend on a technical step in a computer system.
Mbalula thanked President Cyril Ramaphosa for insisting that the party pursue lawful avenues to resolve the dispute.
Moments later, during the question-and-answer session, Mbalula said he was not feeling well before slumping.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu assisted him and took over the briefing, telling journalists he was receiving medical attention.
Bhengu later reassured party members and the public that Mbalula was receiving medical attention following the incident. No further details about his condition were provided in the update.
ANC questions DA’s role in the GNU after court battle
Mbalula said the ANC would have to review the DA’s role in the GNU after the party opposed its Constitutional Court appeal.
He questioned whether the governing partners remained aligned with the GNU’s statement of intent, adding that the ANC could consider other parliamentary partners.
“There’s nothing that binds us forever with the DA, in the Government of National Unity,” he said.
The GNU emerged after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national elections, securing 40.18% of the vote against the DA’s 21.8%. The ANC needed coalition partners to form a government.
The DA has defended its opposition to the ANC’s legal challenge, arguing that electoral deadlines and rules must apply equally to all parties.
With the affected candidates now cleared to contest, the IEC must implement the court order ahead of November 4.
Whether the dispute will prompt a wider reassessment of the ANC’s relationship with the DA remains to be seen.
