After Mbalula joined the National Assembly in May 2009, he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Police by Zuma, who was newly elected as President of South Africa.

Although he was initially excluded from the cabinet of Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mbalula returned as Minister of Transport from May 2019 to March 2023.

[8] His critics accused him of "eroding authority and decorum" in the ANC in a manner that "changed the culture of the league" and set a precedent for his successors.

[12] In April 2008, the Mail & Guardian accused Mbalula of plagiarising an article he wrote for the November 2007 issue of Umrambulo, the ANC newsletter.

The article, entitled "A Hurdle Race Rigged Against the Poor", apparently bore remarkable similarity to a 2002 report by Oxfam.

[14][9] In February 2005, for example, he said publicly that the ANC Women's League was "a bunch of holy cows" whose opposition to Zuma's rise would be judged by "the march of history".

[17] An American diplomatic cable, leaked later during Cablegate, claimed that Mbalula had not initially wanted to defend Zuma during his criminal trials but had faced pressure to do so from within the ANCYL.

[23] He was also elected to the ANC's influential 20-member National Working Committee[24] and was appointed to head the NEC's newly established subcommittee on organisation-building and campaigns.

[26] His successor, firebrand Zuma supporter Julius Malema, was elected at a league conference at the University of the Free State in April 2008.

[27] After leaving the ANCYL, Mbalula worked full-time in organising and campaigns from the ANC's headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg.

In a moment of intoxication with power, you forgot Madiba's wise counsel and allowed our glorious movement to stumble on the edge of an abyss.

When your cabal was finally defeated in Polokwane because of its actions and underhanded tactics at securing a third term for you as a president of the ANC, they went into an elaborate conspiratorial mode, famously dubbed 'the fight-back strategy' which clearly carried your blessing...

It is a sad reality that the phenomenon we are dealing with today is a result of your actions of conniving, manipulating people and advancing politics of patronage.

Despite the fact that you were a democratically elected president, you chose to run both the organisation and the country with a cabal which sought to commandeer everyone along your thinking and vision, which at times ran contrary to what the ANC stood for.

[52][53] In addition, in October 2011, he appointed an inquiry into the affairs of Cricket South Africa;[54] chaired by retired Judge Chris Nicholson, the panel recommended the suspension of the body's head, Gerald Majola, among other things.

[64] The elective conference was held in Mangaung in December 2012, and Mbalula ultimately became one of its "biggest losers", along with others who had sought to unseat Zuma.

[66] Mbalula also failed to gain re-election as an ordinary member of the NEC,[67] and Nomvula Mokonyane replaced him as the ANC's head of organisation-building and campaigns.

[68] However, he remained in his government ministry, was highly ranked on the ANC's party list in the next general election (sixth nationally),[69] and returned to the NEC by co-option in March 2015.

[73]Manuel recounted this story in his testimony to the Zondo Commission in 2019, saying that he had construed the phone call as further evidence that the Guptas may have had influence in appointing Zuma's cabinet ministers.

[76] Ajay Gupta submitted an affidavit confirming that the phone call had taken place, though he said that he had gathered that Mbalula would be promoted from what he had read in newspapers, not based on any personal involvement in the decision.

When reading the interview transcript, one is struck by his politician's facility in walking like a trapeze artist along a line of artful prevarication – avoiding full disclosure as far as possible rather than falling into an outright lie.

[79]In December 2018, Madonsela's successor as Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, reported that Mbalula had violated the Constitution and the Executive Ethics Act in his funding arrangements for an expensive family holiday, taken in Dubai while he was Sport Minister in 2016.

[82] On 31 March 2017, as part of a controversial cabinet reshuffle, Zuma appointed Mbalula to replace Nathi Nhleko as Minister of Police.

[84] Although the Daily Maverick said that Mbalula continued to have a "gung-ho attitude" in his public appearances, it also complimented his efforts to restore the morale and reputation of the police.

[85] In addition, during his year in office, Mbalula entered into a prolonged battle to remove General Berning Ntlemeza from his position at the head of the Hawks,[86] and he also fired Khomotso Phahlane as acting National Police Commissioner.

[94] He said that the party's "monumental blunder" during Zuma's presidency was its failure to be "more decisive in dealing with the image that has been undermined by the family of the Guptas... the fact that there was no voice that said: 'We are sorry and we are going to take action.

[100] He was also touted as the likely preference of Ramaphosa's faction for nomination for election as ANC Secretary-General, if a suitable woman candidate could not be found.

[107] Mbalula denied having interfered,[109] though the matter was reportedly raised by Mondli Gungubele and Enoch Godongwana at an NEC meeting.

[110] By this time, Mbalula was expected to play an important role in the ANC's campaign in the hotly contested 2024 general election,[14] and he was also identified as a possible contender to succeed Ramaphosa in the presidency.

[128] In the week that followed, he told the New Age that national intelligence operatives had paid the woman R150,000 to "rubbish his name", which he said was evidence that state security agencies were being used to fight the ANC's internal political battles.