Mbali Shinga, the sole NFP MPL in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, has been axed from the party, but she is challenging the move with legal action.
Image: KZN Social Development / Facebook
Mbali Shinga’s legal team has formally moved to assert her continued standing in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, warning the Speaker against acting on her expulsion from the NFP while internal party processes remain unresolved.
Shinga, the NFP’s provincial chairperson and Social Development MEC in the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), was expelled on Sunday after being found guilty of misconduct and gross insubordination.
Her lawyer, Sithembiso Mbhele, wrote to Speaker Nontembeko Boyce, arguing that the expulsion was procedurally flawed and not yet enforceable.
In the letter, Mbhele stated that the “purported expulsion is neither final nor enforceable” and that Shinga’s membership status remains subject to pending internal remedies.
He requested that any action affecting her position, rights or privileges in the Legislature be held in abeyance until those processes are concluded.
The charges against Shinga stem from her refusal to comply with a party directive to support the Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP)-sponsored motion of no confidence against Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli last year.
In response, Boyce indicated that she would not intervene in the party’s internal dispute. She stated that any decision would be guided by Section 106(3)(c) of the Constitution, which provides that a member of the Legislature loses their seat upon ceasing to be a member of the party that nominated them.
However, Boyce noted that her office had not yet received formal communication from the NFP confirming Shinga’s expulsion, and therefore the constitutional provision had not been triggered.
Shinga’s attorneys confirmed that she is appealing the expulsion internally, and that the matter will proceed to court if those efforts fail.
Boyce also confirmed receipt of correspondence from Shinga’s legal representatives.
On December 15, the NFP instructed Shinga, as its sole representative in the provincial Legislature, to support the MKP motion as part of a broader plan to establish a new coalition.
The directive followed the NFP’s withdrawal from the KZN GPU, where it had been part of a coalition with the ANC, DA and IFP. The party cited the IFP’s alleged failure to honour an agreement to hand over at least one municipality — a claim the IFP denied.
Shinga openly defied the instruction, stating that her provincial executive committee, which she chairs, had not been consulted on the proposed shift, and she therefore remained aligned with the existing coalition arrangement.
Her possible replacement was expected to be discussed at an NFP national executive committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for this weekend in Ulundi.
That meeting has, however, been challenged in court by the party’s deployment committee chairperson, Thuba Thwala.
Thwala filed an urgent application in the Durban High Court seeking to interdict the sitting, with the matter set to be heard on Thursday, April 23.
In his court papers, Thwala argued that the meeting was convened to take decisions inconsistent with the party’s constitution and warned of irreparable harm if it proceeds.
He cited alleged constitutional breaches, including plans to nominate the party’s Secretary-General and deputy at the NEC meeting, arguing that such positions should be filled at a general conference.
Thwala also sought to block discussions on deployments in his absence, stating that, as chairperson of the deployment committee, he is mandated to oversee those processes.
DAILY NEWS