African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula nearly collapsed as he was overcome by emotions after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour regarding the candidate list dispute for the 4 November local government elections.
In September, the Electoral Court ruled against the ANC, and the party approached the Constitutional Court which has since ruled in its favour on Thursday, 15 October.
FIKILE MBALULA OVERCOME BY EMOTIONS AFTER ANC COURT VICTORY
The South African previously reported that the Constitutional Court ruling, handed down on Thursday, 15 October, follows the ANC’s appeal against an Electoral Court judgment that upheld the IEC’s decision to exclude the candidates from the ballot.
The ANC approached the apex court after failing to complete the final submission of its candidate lists for six municipalities before the deadline.
Addressing journalists following the court victory, an emotional Mbalula shed a tear and nearly collapsed saying 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 of the ANC for his leadership through a hard month and for insisting that at every turn this movement takes the lawful route and no other. I thank the national officials of the movement who carried this matter with patience, which was not easy,” he said.
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. pic.twitter.com/2zYc7pXGtc
— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 15, 2026
Fikile Mbalula was overcome by emotions and nearly collapsed before he could finish responding to questions posed by journalists and had to be helped out of the court room, “I’m not feeling well,” he said.
[WATCH] Fikile Mbalula is overwhelmed with emotion, almost collapsing during a media briefing after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the ANC. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/g9PgU9jSB1
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 15, 2026
IEC ORDERED TO INCLUDE FORMER RULING PARTY’S CANDIDATES ON BALLOTS
On Thursday, Constitutional Court Justice Rammaka Mathopo said the IEC’s decision to reject the ANC’s candidate lists in the six municipalities had been set aside.
“The first respondent, which is the IEC, is directed to do all things necessary to include the party lists and ward candidate nominations mentioned in paragraph four of this order, and the lists and nominations onto the ballot papers and all other relevant processes for the purposes of the 4 November 2026 local elections,” he said.
The ruling means the IEC must take the necessary steps to include the affected ANC candidates in the electoral process ahead of the upcoming local government elections.