South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been booked off from public engagements due to ill health, his office confirmed Wednesday, days after he returned from the BRICS summit in New Delhi. “Due to ill health, President Cyril Ramaphosa is currently booked off from public engagements,” the Presidency said in a statement, adding that his medical team has advised him to rest and recover.
Relevant ministers will stand in for him at scheduled engagements where possible. The statement gave no details on the nature of his illness or how long he’ll be away.
Ramaphosa isn’t the only senior South African official currently out. Deputy President Paul Mashatile has also been away from public duties, recovering from what he’s called a minor medical procedure unrelated to the BRICS trip; he said Tuesday his recovery was “progressing well.” That leaves South Africa’s two top officials simultaneously sidelined, weeks before local government elections on November 4.
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Separately, posts circulating online allege Chinese President Xi Jinping also fell seriously ill at the same summit, with some going as far as claiming he suffered a stroke and was airlifted to Beijing’s 301 Military Hospital, or that rival military factions inside China are now mobilizing. None of these claims have been confirmed.
The Xi claims trace back to a single X account alleging he fainted during the summit on September 12. His schedule contradicts the claim — he held bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that day, completed the summit normally, and left New Delhi on schedule the next day, with senior Indian officials seeing him off at the airport.
In related news, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday that he’d meet his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, this weekend — routine preparation for a Trump-Xi meeting Trump has said will happen September 24 in Washington. That trip has been in the works for months, but Beijing has yet to confirm the date.
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