The excitement appeared to be too much for African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, as he broke down in tears on Thursday after the Constitutional Court ruled in the party’s favour in its fight to have 181 excluded councillor candidates reinstated for the upcoming local government elections.
Shortly thereafter, after muttering the words “I’m not feeling…” during an interview, he appeared to collapse.
According to reports from the court, an ambulance was called.
[BREAKING] ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has collapsed after delivering an emotional address following the party’s court victory to have 181 candidates included on the ballot for the 4 November local government elections. Tune in to #eNCA on #DStv403 for updates. https://t.co/IoNju7pU2F
— eNCA (@eNCA) October 15, 2026
The emotional Mbalula addressed the media from the steps of Constitution Hill, thanking ANC leaders and organisations that had backed the party’s legal challenge.
“The Constitution has spoken, and it has spoken for the people of this country. Let me begin with thanks, because this was never the work of one office. I thank the President [Cyril Ramaphosa] of the ANC for his leadership through the hard month and for insisting at every turn that this movement take the lawful road and no other,” he said at a briefing shortly after the judgement.
ANC VS IEC | “The Constitution has spoken, and it has spoken for the people of this country,” says ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, who is emotional and brought to tears following the party’s victory in the Constitutional Court. https://t.co/2zYc7pXGtc
— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 15, 2026
READ: ANC wins Concourt battle for excluded candidates to contest November 4 elections
The ruling gives the ANC relief ahead of the November 4 elections and offers Mbalula some breathing room after the candidate submission debacle raised questions about his leadership.
As secretary-general, Mbalula had been at the centre of the party’s administration, putting him under pressure over the failure to complete the required submissions before the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)’s deadline.
The dispute also played out against the ANC’s internal political tensions, with the setback threatening to become another point of attack for those unhappy with his leadership.
Mbalula said the case had been about more than a technical step on the IEC’s online nomination system. He argued that the right to vote could not be reduced to a computer function.
“The right to vote is not a privilege handed down by an institution. It is not a setting in a computer programme, and it is not a pattern on a screen. It is a fundamental right, and it belongs to the people,” he said.
READ: ANC can’t pick and choose IEC rules, advocate Motau tells ConCourt
The ANC approached the courts after 181 of its candidates were excluded following the party’s failure to complete the final submission step on the IEC’s online system before the deadline of 5pm on August 28. They lost their bid with the Electoral Court but emerged victorious this time around.
Mbalula calls for review of DA’s role in GNU
Mbalula also criticised those who opposed the party’s legal challenge, arguing that their position sat uneasily with the constitutional commitments underpinning the government of national unity (GNU).
He then turned his attention to the ANC’s relationship with its GNU partners, explicitly calling for a review of the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s role in the coalition government.
“There are matters, comrades, that this movement will now have to sit down and discuss. And one of those matters is our partners in the Government of National Unity, and that is the DA. We must review the DA in the Government of National Unity,” he said.
The remarks could reignite debate within the ANC about the future of the coalition and its relationship with the DA, which has been one of its most prominent partners in the national government.
He described the ruling as a moment in which the country’s constitutional system had worked as intended, saying disputes over rights should be resolved in court rather than through disorder.
For Mbalula, the judgment is a significant reprieve at a time when the candidate submission failure had exposed weaknesses in the ANC’s electoral administration.
But the legal victory does not answer the question of who should be held accountable for the blunder.
- ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula broke down in tears and later collapsed after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of reinstating 181 excluded ANC councillor candidates.
- The ruling allowed the reinstated candidates to participate in the upcoming local government elections on November 4.
- Mbalula thanked ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa and others for supporting the legal challenge, emphasizing voting as a fundamental right beyond a technical issue.
- The Constitutional Court ruling came after the ANC initially failed to complete the candidate submission process by the August 28 deadline and lost in the electoral court.
- Mbalula called for a review of the Democratic Alliance's role in the Government of National Unity following the court victory.
