THE African National Congress (ANC) has emphatically declared that President Cyril Ramaphosa's recall or resignation was never on the table at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
Party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told the media on Friday, 15 May 2026 that instead, the committee unanimously endorsed Ramaphosa's decision to launch a review of the Independent Panel report which reaffirmed "full and continuing support" for his leadership.
The NEC, the party's highest decision-making body between conferences, met this week in Cape Town to discuss organisational and matters of national importance.
"The National Executive Committee didn't consider and wasn't asked to consider the recall of the president. Resignation wasn't on the table. None of those matters were on the table," said Mbalula.
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He warned that the ANC wouldn't "allow speculation in the press, however energetic", to dictate how it conducts its affairs.
Mbalula insisted that Ramaphosa's mandate from both party branches and voters remains "intact".
What the court did, and didn't do
Mbalula took pains to emphasise what the Constitutional Court's judgment didn't order.
"The court didn't order an impeachment trial of the president. The court didn't find the president guilty of anything. The court didn't direct that the president be removed from office. The court didn't endorse the findings of the Section 89 Independent Panel," he stated.
The SG said the judgment dealt only with procedural conduct of the National Assembly and Rule 129i, not the merits of allegations against Ramaphosa.
Review rights defended
The NEC unanimously endorsed Ramaphosa's decision to launch a High Court review of the Independent Panel report, with Mbalula insisting this was not "evasion of accountability" but rather "the substance of accountability".
"To suggest that the president shouldn't exercise the constitutional remedies that the court itself preserved is to suggest that the office of president strips a person of rights that every other South African enjoys," he said.
He noted that the Constitutional Court expressly preserved the review path at paragraph 139 of its judgment.
Mandate intact
Mbalula emphasised that Ramaphosa holds a five-year mandate from ANC branches dating back to December 2022's Nasrec conference, with the next conference only scheduled for December 2027.
He also holds a mandate from voters through the May 2024 election to lead the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Work continues
The ANC declared that neither the Constitutional Court judgment nor the impeachment process would interrupt government work, manifesto consultations, or preparations for the 4 November Local Government Elections declared the "Year of Decisive Action to Fix Local Government".
In organisational matters, the NEC approved the Provincial Task Teams for Eastern Cape and Gauteng to replace the expired Provincial Executive Committees.
