NFP Split Puts KZN GPU on the Brink

By CHRIS MAKHAYE

Defiance..........KZN MEC Shinga is facing fresh challenge to her position and membership of the NFP. She is currently the party's KZN chairperson.

The KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) has been thrown into fresh turmoil after the National Freedom Party’s (NFP) disciplinary committee decision against KZN Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga was leaked to the media on Saturday.

The committee ruled that Shinga was guilty of defying party instructions when she refused to back the motion of no confidence against Premier Thami Ntuli. That motion was brought by the MK Party, which has made clear its ambition to take over the provincial government. The leak has ignited fierce factional battles inside the NFP, laying bare its fragile unity and putting the GPU’s survival on the line.

Going or Staying 

Barnes loyalists insist Shinga must go, arguing that her defiance undermines party discipline. But her supporters say she should stay, warning that if expelled she will challenge the decision in court. Such a move could stall the dissolution of the GPU and expose once again the razor-thin majority holding the coalition together.

Legal Battles 

This is not Shinga’s first confrontation with her party. Last year she went to court seeking an order to prevent the NFP from charging her. The court granted the order, but the party did not appeal. Instead, it proceeded with fresh disciplinary action once the order lapsed, paving the way for the current guilty finding.

NFP president Irvin Barnes told The Quest on Sunday that the party had not been formally informed of the disciplinary committee’s decision. “Kindly note that the decision is still preliminary and therefore the organisation will issue a formal statement once the matter has been finalised,” he said.

Attempts to reach Shinga and her spokesperson on Sunday were unsuccessful.

Background 

The NFP’s single seat in the KZN Legislature is pivotal. Formed in 2011 by Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi after her expulsion from the IFP, the party once helped the ANC wrest control of rural municipalities from the IFP and performed strongly in its early elections. But its fortunes have since collapsed. Today, that lone seat is the difference between the GPU’s survival and an MK Party takeover of the province.

Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi founded the NFP after splitting from the IFP. Her death brought about deep divisions within the NFP.

Analysis 

KwaZulu-Natal-based political analyst and senior politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Zakhele Ndlovu, said the saga reflects long-standing fractures within the NFP and will inevitably affect the GPU. “The factional battles within the NFP are nothing new. Even this DC decision should be seen in that context. But I believe it will survive for now, though its future is not guaranteed,” he warned.

Independent elections analyst Wayne Sussman said the party is a shadow of its former self, and the current standoff underscores the precarious balance of power in KwaZulu-Natal. “Shinga may well challenge any decision in court, but ultimately she will have to go. The real issue is a hung legislature and the survival of the GPU. Perhaps Barnes will agree to serve in the GPU under Ntuli,” Sussman noted.

The leaked decision has therefore become more than a disciplinary matter—it is a test of the NFP’s cohesion, the durability of the GPU, and the balance of power in KwaZulu-Natal. The divisions in the NFP will not only direct its internal politics, but also determine the survival—or collapse—of the KZN GPU.TQ