By Sihle Mavuso
National Freedom Party (NFP) leader Ivan Barnes is set to make a triumphant entry to the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, a move that could alter the dynamics of the province’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU).
Barnes’s entry moved closer on Monday after Speaker Nontembeko Boyce accepted a directive from the NFP to remove Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga, who held the party’s sole seat in the 80-member legislature in Pietermaritzburg.
Shinga’s removal follows the conclusion of a protracted internal disciplinary process over the weekend.
The party’s appeals board upheld her expulsion after she was found to have defied a directive to support the MK Party (Umkhonto Wesizwe Party) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a December 15 vote aimed at ousting IFP leader Thami Ntuli as KwaZulu-Natal premier.
In a letter dated June 1, Boyce informed Shinga that she was now deemed to have ceased being a member of the legislature.
“I refer to the above matter and confirm having received correspondence from the Office of the Secretary General of the NFP, yesterday the 31st of May, advising that you have been expelled from the NFP and therefore cease to be a member of the Legislature. We have also received correspondence attaching a reviewed NFP Party list with a request to facilitate the swearing-in of the next member of the list without delay,” reads the opening part of Boyce’s letter to Shinga.
“I must point out that the Legislature is compelled to accept the advice of political Parties when it comes to confirmation of the status of their Party Members in the Legislature, without the Legislature having to delve into the internal processes of the party concerned.”
Boyce added that the legislature is obliged to act on the advice of political parties regarding the status of their representatives, without interrogating internal party processes.
“As advised above, the Speaker will not delve into the internal affairs and disputes of any Party. We further note that there is currently no court order against the Speaker of the Legislature preventing her from acting as she is required to do, in terms of s.106 of the Constitution,” Boyce wrote to Shinga.
“In view of the above you are advised that the Legislature must accept that you are expelled from your party. Unless interdicted by a competent body, the Speaker is compelled to implement the request of the party and will do so as soon as is reasonably possible. I trust that the above is in order.”
Party insiders said Barnes could be sworn in as early as Tuesday, pending Shinga’s court bid to block her expulsion and review the party decision.
Barnes has not said whether he would maintain the current GPU arrangement or seek to realign with the MK Party (37 seats) and the EFF (2 seats), a potential configuration that would produce a 40–40 deadlock against the IFP (15), ANC (14) and DA (11).
He has previously called for black political formations to unite to assume power and improve service delivery.
INSIDE POLITICS
