The National Freedom Party’s KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga will remain in the Government of Provincial Unity following her legal victory against the party’s president, Ivan Barnes.
Shinga had gone to Pietermaritzburg High Court to stop Barnes, who hauled her to a disciplinary hearing which was supposed to be on Friday. However, the court set aside the hearing until part B of Shinga’s application is heard. In the second application, she is challenging Barnes’s authority to discipline her, saying the party’s constitution does not allow for the president to discipline any member.
Shinga said the constitution stipulates that a member must be charged by his or her branch which in her case has never happened.
“I have not received any communication from my branch about charges that the president talks about,” said Shinga
Attempts to get the party’s reaction to the court ruling were unsuccessful as acting secretary-general Sunset Xaba had not yet responded to the question sent to him.
In the letter of charges, Barnes said Shinga failed to heed the party’s directive to submit a revised list of members to Speaker of the KZN legislature Nontembeko Boyce. In the revised list, the party had removed Shinga as the number one candidate and replaced her with Barnes. After the submission, Shinga was expected to resign and make way for Barnes, however, she stated that she would neither resign nor be removed by the party’s president and his national executive committee. She said the decision to remove her from the legislature could not be taken by Barnes or his national executive committee but will be a decision of the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC), of which she is a chairperson.
Xaba had previously dismissed suggestions that by amending the list, the party is intending to remove Shinga. Xaba said the party revised the list so that when it decides to make changes, the process would be legal.
The NFP’s legal battle with its MEC has reignited the debate on the future of the IFP-led Government of Provincial Unity as the NFP is a kingmaker in this formation.
