MEA dismisses rumours after Ramaphosa skips events over ill health

South Africa's Presidency said on Wednesday that President Cyril Ramaphosa, 73, will stay away from public engagements due to ill health, with his medical team advising rest and recovery, and ministers representing him. He returned home from the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Monday. The statement followed rumours sparked by Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping the September 12 BRICS leaders' dinner. India's external affairs ministry fact-check handle called such reports a "Fake Alert" and cautioned against malicious posts.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 17 Sept 2026, 10:38 am IST

Source

Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗

#brics summit#fake news#ramaphosa#mea#xi jinping

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

South Africa's Presidency said on Wednesday that Ramaphosa, 73, will stay away from public engagements due to ill health and was advised to rest and recover. — Attributed to an official statement from South Africa's Presidency; source notes no details of the ailment were given.
The MEA's fact-checking handle posted 'Fake Alert!!!' and cautioned against malicious social media posts. — Direct quote attributed to the external affairs ministry's fact-check handle in the source.
Modi interrupted his speech to ask Xi 'Is it okay?' because of an issue with Xi's translation device. — Attributed to an unnamed person said to be present in the room; not independently confirmed.
Xi skipped the BRICS leaders' dinner on September 12 only due to tiredness; China was represented by foreign minister Wang Yi. — Attributed to unnamed 'people familiar with the matter'; Wang Yi's attendance stated in source without further sourcing.
South African deputy president Paul Mashatile has not been seen in public since July while recovering from a minor medical procedure. — Figure and timeline appear in the source; no specific source cited for this detail.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

A president's health is never merely a medical matter — it is a question of power, and South Africa's Presidency has released just enough to be transparent without settling anything. By confirming rest and delegating engagements to ministers while withholding the nature of the ailment, Pretoria has managed the optics but left a vacuum that rumour will keep filling, made worse by the deputy president also being out of public view. For India, the more sensitive fallout is diplomatic rather than domestic: the swift 'Fake Alert' pushback shows Delhi treating conspiracy narratives about the BRICS summit as a reputational risk to be killed early.

The choice to name rest but not the ailment is a classic incumbency trade-off — it protects privacy and avoids a succession conversation, but invites speculation.
Sending ministers rather than a single stand-in keeps authority diffuse and signals continuity without elevating any one figure as acting principal.
With Deputy President Paul Mashatile also absent from public view since July after a minor procedure, both top offices are simultaneously low-visibility, which is politically awkward regardless of the medical facts.
India's external affairs ministry moving quickly to brand the leader-illness narrative fake suggests the host government's main concern is protecting the summit's image, not the health story itself.
The Xi episode shows how thin the raw material for a rumour can be — an interrupted speech traced to a translation device and a skipped dinner attended by the foreign minister instead.

What to watch — Watch whether Ramaphosa returns to public engagements on a normal schedule and whether the Presidency offers any further detail — prolonged silence from both the president's and deputy president's offices would be the point at which succession chatter inside the governing party becomes harder to dismiss.

The story does not establish what Ramaphosa's illness is, how serious or prolonged it may be, or any link whatsoever between his condition and the BRICS Summit — nor does it report any actual political manoeuvring in South Africa.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

South Africa's Presidency announced on Wednesday that President Cyril Ramaphosa, 73, would skip public engagements on his medical team's advice to rest and recover, days after returning from the BRICS Summit held in New Delhi on September 12-13. The announcement came after Chinese President Xi Jinping had skipped the BRICS leaders' dinner at Bharat Mandapam on September 12, and together the two absences fuelled social media claims that world leaders had been "affected" by attending the summit. India's Ministry of External Affairs fact-check handle labelled such reports a "Fake Alert" and warned against malicious posts. Officials familiar with the summit said Xi's absence was due to tiredness and that an earlier incident during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech involved a translation device, not a health issue.

Key facts

South Africa's Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday that President Cyril Ramaphosa, 73, will stay away from public engagements "due to ill health".
Ramaphosa's medical team advised him to "rest and recover"; the statement gave no details of his ailment.
Ramaphosa returned to South Africa from the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Monday and has asked ministers to represent him at scheduled public engagements.
South Africa's deputy president Paul Mashatile has not been seen in public since July as he recovers from a minor medical procedure.
Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the dinner for BRICS leaders at Bharat Mandapam on September 12; China was represented by foreign minister Wang Yi.
The BRICS Summit in New Delhi was held over September 12-13.
The external affairs ministry's fact-checking handle posted: "Fake Alert!!! We caution against such malicious posts on social media platforms!"
Xi, 73, flew into India on the afternoon of September 12, held a bilateral meeting with Modi — their first interaction on Indian soil in seven years — and left before lunch on September 13, spending less than 24 hours in India.

Timeline

JulySouth African deputy president Paul Mashatile stops appearing in public while recovering from a minor medical procedure.
September 12 (afternoon)Xi Jinping arrives in India, attends BRICS Summit engagements and holds a bilateral meeting with PM Modi — their first on Indian soil in seven years.
September 12Modi interrupts his summit speech to ask Xi "Is it okay?"; officials say it concerned Xi's translation device. Xi later skips the leaders' dinner at Bharat Mandapam, citing tiredness.
September 13 (before lunch)Xi leaves India after a stay of less than 24 hours; BRICS Summit concludes.
MondayRamaphosa returns to South Africa from the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
WednesdaySouth Africa's Presidency announces Ramaphosa will skip public engagements due to ill health; MEA's fact-check handle dismisses resulting rumours as a "Fake Alert".

Who has a stake

Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa — His health and ability to perform public duties; ministers now deputise for him at scheduled engagements.
South Africa's Presidency — Managing disclosure about the President's health and continuity of government business, with deputy president Mashatile also absent since July.
Xi Jinping and the Chinese delegation — Speculation over his skipping the BRICS dinner; officials attribute it to fatigue, with Wang Yi representing China.
Ministry of External Affairs (India) — Countering misinformation about the New Delhi BRICS Summit through its social media fact-check handle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi / Government of India — India's credibility as summit host and the optics of the Modi-Xi bilateral, the first on Indian soil in seven years.
BRICS grouping — Perception of the New Delhi summit's outcomes amid viral rumours about leaders' health.

Why it matters

Two coincidental absences by senior leaders were enough to spawn viral claims linking them to a multilateral summit hosted by India, showing how quickly misinformation can attach itself to high-visibility diplomacy. The government's use of a dedicated fact-check handle to issue a "Fake Alert" underlines that rebutting rumour has become part of routine diplomatic communication. It also highlights how limited official disclosure about leaders' health creates space for speculation.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Cyril Ramaphosa is the President of South Africa; Paul Mashatile is the deputy president.
The BRICS Summit was hosted in New Delhi on September 12-13; the leaders' dinner was held at Bharat Mandapam.
Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, represented China at the BRICS leaders' dinner in place of Xi Jinping.
The Modi-Xi meeting at the summit was their first interaction on Indian soil in seven years.
The Ministry of External Affairs runs a social media fact-checking handle that issued a "Fake Alert" on the rumours.
Both Ramaphosa and Xi Jinping are aged 73, as stated in the report.

Mains framing

The episode illustrates how misinformation now shadows major diplomatic events. Two unrelated developments — Ramaphosa's medical advice to rest after returning from New Delhi and Xi Jinping's decision to skip the BRICS leaders' dinner at Bharat Mandapam on September 12 — were stitched together on social media into a claim that leaders had been "affected" by attending the summit, aided by a misread moment when Modi paused his speech to ask Xi "Is it okay?" (officials say this concerned a translation device). Contributing causes include opacity around leaders' health, the absence of official detail on Ramaphosa's ailment, and the speed at which visual fragments from summits circulate without context. The implications extend beyond one summit: unchecked rumour can distort perceptions of India's hosting record, of bilateral thaw with China, and of the stability of partner governments. The response — a prompt "Fake Alert" from the external affairs ministry's fact-check handle, along with background clarification by officials present in the room — points to the way forward: rapid, specific and on-record rebuttal, greater transparency in official communication about leaders' engagements, and media discipline in verifying before amplifying.

Key terms

BRICS Summit: Annual summit of the BRICS grouping of leaders; the edition referred to was hosted in New Delhi on September 12-13.
Bharat Mandapam: The New Delhi venue where the dinner for BRICS leaders was held on September 12.
MEA fact-check handle: The external affairs ministry's social media account that rebuts false claims; it posted "Fake Alert!!!" on the leaders' health rumours.
South Africa's Presidency: The office of the South African President, which issued the Wednesday statement on Ramaphosa's ill health.
Bilateral meeting: A one-on-one meeting between two leaders on the sidelines of a summit; Modi and Xi held theirs during the New Delhi summit.

Practice questions

How does misinformation around high-profile diplomatic events affect a host nation's foreign policy messaging, and what institutional mechanisms can counter it? Discuss with reference to recent examples.
Examine the tension between a head of state's right to medical privacy and the public interest in disclosure about a leader's fitness to govern.
Evaluate the significance of the Modi-Xi bilateral meeting at the New Delhi BRICS Summit, their first interaction on Indian soil in seven years, for India-China relations.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

Next storyUS House clears Russia sanctions bill; India responds on trade interests →

← All stories