The National Freedom Party (NFP) has challenged the Speaker of KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Nontembeko Boyce’s handling of the issue of the party’s seat in the legislature.
The NFP was gearing up this week for the swearing-in of party president Ivan Barnes as its representative in the KZN Legislature after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled in its favour in the case it brought against Boyce and its Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), Mbali Shinga.
The move could have significant consequences for the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) as Barnes withdrew the party’s support for the coalition government last October. The GPU – a coalition of the ANC, DA, IFP and NFP – is able to govern the province by virtue of having 41 seats in the 80-seat legislature.
If the NFP aligns with the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and the EFF, those parties would hold 40 seats and the GPU parties would also hold 40 seats, potentially creating a legislative deadlock.
While the NFP had said it expected that Barnes would be sworn in on Tuesday after receiving confirmation from the Speaker’s office, Shinga subsequently filed an application for leave to appeal the high court ruling. As a result, the Speaker said she would need to await the outcome of Shinga’s court application before taking further action.
In a post on her Facebook page on Tuesday, Shinga shared a picture of her swearing-in as an MPL in 2024 along with a message: “We continue with the mandate given to us by the electorate of KwaZulu-Natal. Sworn-in - At Work - Serving the people. No distractions. The work continues.”
The matter is expected to go back to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on October 10. Judge Bongani Mngadi will decide whether leave to appeal is granted. Should the leave to appeal not be granted, Shinga would have to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal; however, the Speaker may swear in Barnes because Rule 18, which suspended Judge Mngadi’s order, would fall away.
In his ruling, Judge Mngadi had ordered the Speaker to declare the NFP’s seat vacant and take all necessary steps to swear in its new candidate.
In defence of her decision, the Speaker had said in light of the confirmation that the application for leave to appeal has been lodged with the Registrar, the Legislature will not take any further consequential steps to implement the Mngadi order. This includes the swearing-in or recognition of a replacement member of the NFP pursuant to the order.
“I further accept that the declaration of the vacancy made on the 15th of September 2026 is ineffectual and that Ms Mbali Shinga remains a member of the KZN Legislature pending the appeal of the judgment and order of Mngadi J. Accordingly, no further consequential steps will be taken pursuant to the order pending determination of the appeal process, unless a competent court directs otherwise.”
The NFP sharply disagreed with Boyce’s interpretation of the case and vowed to take her to court again.
The party’s secretary-general Sunset Xaba argued that filing an application for leave to appeal does not mean an order has been granted.
“The Speaker can only be interdicted by a court order. We have also filed papers to oppose Shinga’s appeal. She is playing a political game but she will not succeed, we have seen her playing this game before,” said Xaba.
The NFP had previously complained about the Speaker’s decision not to declare its seat vacant following the completion of Shinga’s internal appeal process, accusing her of being partisan and meddling in the party’s internal affairs.
Judge Mngadi had addressed this issue in his judgment as he criticised the Speaker’s handling of the matter, saying she had involved herself in a dispute to which she was not a party.
After the NFP’s internal appeal was dismissed in July, the party wrote to the Speaker asking her to declare the seat vacant and arrange for Barnes’s swearing-in.
However, Boyce said she had received contradictory accounts from the NFP and Shinga about whether a valid appeal had taken place. She said she could not determine the position with certainty and therefore maintained the status quo.
Judge Mngadi ruled that this was incorrect as the interim order expired once the NFP’s National Working Committee made its decision in July.
“The Speaker by her decision flouts the order made by Siwendu J in that her decision has the effect of extending that order beyond its terms. She placed the applicant, a political party in a situation where it could be undermined by its members. This is likely to create chaos in the affairs of political parties and promote ill-discipline,” Judge Mngadi ruled.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the Speaker was aware of the consequences of allowing the NFP to bring in a new member.
“She is clearly partisan in this matter because she is fully aware of the consequences. She is a beneficiary of the current political arrangement and therefore she finds it difficult to work against her party and her own interest,” Seepe argued.
Asked about the accusation, the Speaker noted that she had not seen the statements, but maintained that the process followed was based on the information available when decisions were made.
Shinga’s battle with her party dates back to December 2025, when she defied her party directive to support the MK Party motion to oust Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli through a vote of no confidence. The party hauled her before the disciplinary hearing, which culminated in her final expulsion in July.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za