Sihle Mavuso
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga has won the first round of her legal battle against NFP president Ivan Barnes, whom she has accused of trying to engineer her removal from the provincial legislature and take over the party’s seat.
Shinga scored an interim legal victory on Friday when the High Court in Pietermaritzburg interdicted the NFP and the KZN Legislature from proceeding with steps to remove and replace her as the party’s MPL, pending the finalisation of further internal and legal processes.
The court ruled that Shinga should remain an NFP member and a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature for now, after finding that the party’s disciplinary and appeal processes had not been finally determined.
That was after Shinga argued in her court papers that the appeals tribunal which upheld her expulsion last month was not the final body that should hear her case.
She argued that the constitution of the party was clear that its general national conference was the highest internal structure and that Barnes and leaders aligned with him had jumped the gun when they wrote to the Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce to say she had been expelled and should be replaced.
The NFP had moved to remove Shinga after its appeals tribunal upheld a decision to expel her for defying a party directive to support the removal of KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli in December last year.
The court also ruled that, if Boyce had already acted on the directive by Barnes and the NFP to remove Shinga, that decision was set aside and the status quo should remain as it was before the attempted removal.
The court further ruled that Shinga could not be removed from the legislature while her internal appeal and the party’s decision were still unresolved.
Shinga told the court her application was urgent because, if she followed the normal court roll and procedures, it could take up to two years for the matter to be heard.
By then, she said, Barnes and other NFP leaders would have succeeded in removing her unfairly and without following proper internal processes.
The dispute has placed renewed pressure on KwaZulu-Natal’s Government of Provincial Unity, in which the NFP holds one seat but plays a potentially decisive role.
In her application, Shinga had cited Advocate Zweli Zakwe, who chaired the appeals tribunal that upheld her expulsion.
She accused Zakwe of acting outside the party’s constitution and said his appointment as appeal chairperson was imposed on her.
Shinga’s lawyer, Sithembiso Mbhele, said his client would now return to work.
Barnes said on Saturday: “The NFP National Executive Committee will meet [on Sunday] to attend to the interim (court order) and abide by the ruling.”
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