The South African presidency has dismissed social media reports claiming President Cyril Ramaphosa had been taken ill and was admitted to a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria.

This is after Mr. Ramaphosa failed to attend a meeting organised by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday in Mpumalanga province.

The ANC announced that Mr. Ramaphosa had been excused from the meeting due to an unexplained “emergency”.

The announcement sparked rumours and speculations about the president's health.

"The president is fine, he was never hospitalised, and there was no emergency," presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

Mr. Magwenya said the president decided to spend the rest of the day at home "ahead of a busy week", terming the rumours "malicious".