African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has returned to work after collapsing following a Constitutional Court ruling in the party’s favour, saying he has been medically examined and is ready to resume campaigning ahead of South Africa’s November 4 local government elections.
Mbalula addressed journalists at the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House, in Johannesburg on Sunday, saying he had rested after ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa instructed him to take time off following the incident last Thursday.
“The doctors have examined me thoroughly and I am fit as a fiddle. I have rested. Now the ground is calling my name,” Mbalula said.
He also thanked his family, political colleagues and members of the public who expressed concern about his wellbeing following his collapse at Constitution Hill.
Mbalula attributed the incident to the emotional strain of a seven-week legal battle over the exclusion of 181 ANC candidates from the upcoming local government elections.
He said he had been under pressure over the possibility that voters in six municipalities would be unable to vote for the ANC candidates they had selected.
“The thought that people in six municipalities might be handed a ballot paper that did not carry the party they had chosen, that thought sat on my chest every night,” he said.
Mbalula collapsed while addressing journalists after the Constitutional Court ruled in the ANC’s favour in its dispute with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
Reflecting on the incident, he acknowledged that everyone has limits and that recognising them is not a sign of weakness.
“I am a human being. All of us have a limit, and there is no shame in finding yours,” he said.