By Sihle Mavuso
The MEC for Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal and kingmaker in the government of provincial unity (GPU), Mbali Shinga, has told the Speaker of the provincial legislature, Nontembeko Boyce, to halt the proposed move to remove her, saying she intends to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) directly after the High Court refused her application for leave to appeal.
Shinga, through her lawyers, told Boyce to put on hold the mooted swearing-in of Ivan Barnes, the president of the National Freedom Party (NFP), to take over her position.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court turned down her application for leave to appeal to the SCA on Monday.
Shinga has been engaged in a long-running legal battle with her party, the NFP, after she defied its directive in December last year to vote in favour of a motion to remove Thami Ntuli of the IFP as premier. Shinga told the legislature that she would vote for Ntuli to remain in office for the sake of the stability of the provincial government, and the motion collapsed.
The NFP subsequently charged her with defiance and expelled her.
Shinga then approached the court to set aside her expulsion from the party, arguing that the party’s constitution had not been properly followed in reaching the decision to expel her.
However, the court ruled against her, paving the way for Barnes to be sworn in as her replacement.
Following Monday’s ruling, the NFP renewed pressure on Boyce to have Barnes sworn in as soon as reasonably practicable, prompting Shinga to challenge the move.
Her legal team told Boyce that they were concerned about her intention to proceed with Shinga’s removal and the swearing-in of a replacement member before the intended petition had been lodged and the applicable legal position had been properly addressed in previous legal correspondence.
They further warned that if Shinga were removed and later won her appeal in the SCA, it would complicate the process of reinstating her.
“The proposed steps are of considerable consequence. Once a replacement member has been sworn in and has begun exercising the functions of membership, the practical consequences may extend beyond the immediate implementation of the impugned order and may materially complicate the restoration of our client’s position should the appellate proceedings ultimately succeed.
“Our client does not seek to disregard an order of court or to obstruct the lawful functioning of the KZN Legislature. Our client seeks to exercise the appellate remedies afforded by law and to prevent avoidable prejudice while those remedies are being pursued,” the lawyers said in the letter.
Parties in the GPU have said that should Barnes be sworn in, he will take the NFP’s sole vote and side with the MKP and the EFF, creating a stalemate in the legislature. The three parties would then have a combined 40 votes against the 40 votes held by the IFP, ANC and DA.
INSIDE POLITICS
