African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has returned to work after collapsing outside the Constitutional Court following the party’s legal battle to have 181 of its local government election candidates reinstated on ballot papers.
Addressing the media from the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House on Sunday, Mbalula said he had been examined by doctors, who declared him fit to resume his duties.
He said ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa had ordered him to rest after the incident, adding that the instruction had expired at 6am on Sunday.
“The doctors have examined me thoroughly and found me fit as a fiddle. I have rested. Now the ground is calling my name,” Mbalula said.
He acknowledged the concern caused by his collapse, saying he had been under considerable pressure for seven weeks over the possibility that ANC candidates in six municipalities would be excluded from the November 4 local government election ballot papers.
“When the court spoke, the weight came off all at once. And the body did what the body does. I am a human being. All of us have a limit, and there is no shame in finding yours,” he said.
Mbalula thanked his family, ANC leadership, alliance partners, religious leaders and supporters who sent messages of encouragement following the incident.
The ANC had approached the Constitutional Court after 181 of its candidates in six municipalities were treated as having not been properly submitted through the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) candidate nomination system.
The party argued that it had submitted the required candidate names, documents and nomination deposits before the deadline, but that a final step on the online system had not been completed.
The Constitutional Court upheld the ANC’s appeal and directed the IEC to include the affected candidates. Mbalula said the ballot papers had subsequently been reprinted.
He said 34 other political parties that had faced similar difficulties had also benefited from the outcome.
“We did not go to court for a favour. We went for a principle. The point was never to win a privilege for the ANC. It was to widen the door so that no party and no independent candidate in this country is ever again kept off a ballot by a requirement that no law prescribes,” he said.
Mbalula defended the ANC’s decision to challenge the IEC’s position, arguing that the dispute was about protecting the constitutional right to vote and ensuring that voters could choose their preferred candidates.
He also praised the IEC for implementing the court order after the judgment, describing the commission as a cornerstone of South Africa’s democracy.
Turning to the election campaign, Mbalula said there were 17 days left before the November 4 poll and that the party needed to intensify its work on the ground.
“The courtroom is behind us. The campaign is in front of us. We are back,” he said.
He called on ANC members to unite behind the party’s campaign and urged voters to participate in the elections.