NFP’s Mbali Shinga ceases to be KZN MPL
NFP MPL Mbali Shinga, lost her seat in the legislature after the NFP informed Boyce of her expulsion and submitted a revised party list to fill the vacancy
The NFP’s long-running internal conflict reached a dramatic turning point on Thursday when KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce announced that the party’s sole MPL Mbali Shinga is no longer a member of the provincial house.
Shinga, who also serves as KZN Social Development MEC in the government of provincial unity (GPU), lost her seat in the legislature after the NFP informed Boyce of her expulsion and submitted a revised party list to fill the vacancy.
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Announcing the development during a sitting of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature on Thursday, Boyce said all legal requirements governing the termination of a member’s legislative status had been met.
Citing constitutional and legislative provisions, Boyce said the NFP’s letter informing her of Shinga’s expulsion and the organisation’s submission of a revised list were enough to terminate Shinga’s provincial legislature membership.
“A person loses membership of a provincial legislature if the member ceases to be a member of a party that nominated the member to the provincial legislature.
“The termination of the membership to the provincial legislature takes effect immediately by operation of the law,” she said.
The development marks the latest chapter in a bitter dispute which has played out over several months between Shinga and the NFP leadership,
Last week, the party’s appeals tribunal dismissed Shinga’s challenge against her expulsion.
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However, Shinga has now turned to the courts in a bid to reverse the decision.
On Wednesday, she approached the Pietermaritzburg High Court seeking an order setting aside her expulsion from the party.
The court directed the respondents to file their answering affidavits by next week, meaning the matter remains unresolved.
Despite the pending litigation, Boyce stressed that the legislature was bound by the current legal position.
“While there is a court challenge that is going on, we have not received any interdict as yet,” she said.
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As matters stand, Boyce said, the termination of Shinga’s membership “takes effect immediately.”
The issue sparked heated debate in the legislature, with the MK Party questioning how Shinga could continue serving as a member of the provincial Cabinet after losing her legislative seat.
MK Party MPL S’thembiso Magubane said Shinga’s continued occupation of the Social Development MEC’s office raised serious legal concerns.
“If she is no longer an MPL, then she cannot continue occupying the MEC’s office.
“The vehicles she is using should be reported as stolen,” he said.
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While Boyce saw nothing wrong with issues being raised around Shinga’s continued occupation of the MEC’s office, she said the matter did not belong to Thursday’s sitting.
