Emotional Mbalula collapses during a media briefing

African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula collapsed shortly after addressing the media at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.

Mbalula became emotional while addressing the media after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the ANC in the case against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The party had challenged an Electoral Court ruling in favour of the IEC, which excluded its 181 candidates from contesting elections in six municipalities.

Mbalula says the prospect of ANC-governed communities being left without ANC candidates had kept him awake at night and weighed heavily on him.

“And I’m not afraid of anything; I respect the movement. But the biggest thing that made me not sleep and made me to really cry is the fact that how will I live with a decision that in 2026, under my leadership, as the boss of the ANC, people could not vote. And when I said it’s 3%, I could not take it emotionally,” explains Mbalula.

VIDEO | Mbalula collapses after ANC’s ConCourt victory