/ 25 May 2011

Fikile Mbalula collapses during Cabinet meeting

Fikile Mbalula Collapses During Cabinet Meeting

A defibrillator was reportedly used on Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula after he collapsed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old former ANC Youth League leader however overcame the “sudden flu-like symptoms” and should be back at work on Thursday, government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said on Wednesday night.

The New Age quoted an unnamed government official who was at the meeting as saying: “They administered CPR and used a defibrillator to ease his breathing before strapping him to a stretcher and wheeling him out to the hospital … ”

However, a defibrillator is a device used by paramedics and medical staff to deliver an electric jolt to restart the heart. It was not clear whether such a device was used for this purpose. — Sapa