By Johnathan Paoli
The National Freedom Party (NFP) said on Friday it would not rejoin KwaZulu-Natal’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), and confirmed it had suspended its sole member in the provincial legislature, Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga, for a further three months while a disciplinary process continued.
“We are treated not as partners but as pawns,” NFP President Ivan Barnes said at a media briefing in Durban, about the minority party’s place in the coalition.
The NFP quit the GPU earlier this week.
In December, it ordered Shinga to back a motion by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) to remove Premier Thami Ntuli, but Shinga voted with the ANC, IFP and DA to defeat the motion, triggering disciplinary action and a demand that she resign as MEC and as the party’s representative in the KZN Legislature.
Barnes said internal challenges within the NFP had contributed to the party’s difficulties inside the coalition.
“We wanted to create a government that is for the people and by the people, but unfortunately the National Freedom Party had its own woes. We need to tell the truth as it is. We owe the people of KwaZulu-Natal an apology,” he said.
Barnes also accused Ntuli’s administration of falling short on accountability and transparency and said the NFP could no longer be associated with what he called a “government of political elites”.
He pointed to allegations of corruption, large-scale irregular expenditure raised in treasury and oversight reports, the alleged politicisation of the civil service, and unresolved concerns around gender-based violence within the Office of the Premier.
He said the party did not want to be seen as complicit in what he said was a growing public perception of corruption within the GPU.
The decision to leave was rooted in the party’s founding principles of honesty, compassion and accountability, he said.
Acting NFP secretary-general Bheki Xaba said the decision to exit the GPU was taken by the party’s national executive committee and was binding on all party structures and deployees.
Shinga is undergoing a disciplinary hearing on charges of gross misconduct and insubordination, with possible expulsion looming.
The NFP holds one seat in the 80-member KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.
Coalition partners have downplayed the immediate impact of the NFP’s departure, although analysts and political figures have warned the exit could add to instability.
ANC provincial coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu said the ANC would seek bilateral talks with the NFP, but rejected suggestions the withdrawal would automatically collapse the GPU.
Premier Ntuli said he had not received formal communication from the NFP or Shinga, and said he remained satisfied with her work as an MEC.
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