The NFP's Mbali Shinga will remain in the Legislature for now.
Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
KwaZulu-Natal National Freedom Party chairperson Mbali Shinga will remain in her office as Social Development MEC after she was granted an appeal against her expulsion by the party.
After its national working committee (NWC) meeting, which was held at the Umgababa Hotel, south of Durban, over the weekend, the party’s highest structure granted Shinga an opportunity to appeal her expulsion.
In a statement issued by the newly elected Secretary-General, Sunset Xaba, the party said, guided by the provisions of its constitution and in the spirit of fairness, accountability, and organisational renewal, the NWC granted her an appeal against her expulsion.
“The resolution reflects the NWC’s unwavering dedication to uphold procedural integrity, ensure transparency, and reaffirms members within the framework of the constitution,” read the statement
The party is expected to appoint an appeal chairperson, who, it said, would be impartial to hear and determine the appeal.
Shinga’s attorney, Sithembiso Mbhele, said he lodged an appeal a few days after her client's expulsion and is now waiting for the appointment of the appeal’s chairperson.
Mbhele sounded confident, saying he had already picked up procedural flaws committed by the disciplinary committee chairperson, where he issued an expulsion verdict that he had no powers of.
He said instead of making recommendations of dismissal to the NWC, the chairperson expelled his client.
According to Mbhele, the second loophole he would strongly argue in the appeal was the evidence he obtained that the party reviewed its constitution without a quorum and had asked a member to sign a register a day before the meeting.
He said this evidence was ignored during the disciplinary hearing.
Shinga was fired by her party last week after she was found guilty on charges of misconduct and gross insubordination. The charges emanated from her defiance of the party’s directive to support the uMkhonto weSizwe (MKP)-sponsored motion of no confidence against Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli last year.
Fearing that she would be removed from the Legislature, Shinga’s lawyer wrote a letter to Speaker Nontembeko Boyce, asking her not to remove his client based on the dismissal by the party, characterising it as inconsistent with the party’s constitution.
In the letter, Mbhele said the “purported expulsion is neither final nor enforceable, and Shinga’s membership status remains a subject of the pending internal processes”.
“In the circumstances, we respectfully request that your office take note that the purported expulsion is formally disputed and internal remedies have not yet been exhausted; any steps affecting our client’s status, rights, privileges, or position in the legislature ought to be held in abeyance pending the finalisation of the internal processes,” read the letter.
However, in her response, Boyce was non committal, saying she would not get involved in the party’s internal dispute and reminded the lawyers that her (Boyce's) action would be guided by Section 106(3)(c) of the Constitution, which stipulates that a member of the Legislature ceases to be member when he or she ceases to be a member of the party that nominated him or her to represent them in the Legislature.
Section 106(3)(c) states that a member of Parliament or the Legislature can be removed after ceasing to be a member of the party that nominated him or her to Parliament or the Legislature. Other reasons for removing a member would be through resignation, death or incapacitation.
On December 15, the NFP instructed Shinga as its sole representative in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature to support the MKP motion with the intention of establishing a new coalition with the MKP.
Meanwhile, the NWC meeting also elected Xaba as the new secretary-general after acting in the position for months following the resignation of Teddy Thwala.
Thwala was elected in a party’s conference that took place in December 2023 in Durban. He immediately challenged Ivan Barnes and his executive election; however, the court reaffirmed Barnes's executive as the legitimate party, structured as duly elected.