National Freedom Party president Ivan Barnes’s hope to be sworn in this coming Tuesday as the new KwaZulu-Natal MPL, replacing Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga, has been thwarted.
This comes after Shinga returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday to apply for leave to appeal against ruling by the same court that she should be replaced as the MPL.
The party is preparing to oppose Shinga’s application.
Shinga is restored as the NFP MPL, her battle for political survival is back in court, and Barnes continues to wait to takeover of the party’s sole seat in the legislature.
Shinga’s attorney, Sithembiso Mbhele, said that soon after speaker Nontembeko Boyce declared the NFP seat vacant on September 15, he prepared the application papers and wrote to her requesting that the swearing-in of Barnes not proceed.
“At midnight on Wednesday, we wrote a very detailed letter persuading the Speaker, in terms of the applicable Section 81(1) of the Supreme Court of Appeal, that they (the Legislature) cannot remove her pending the finalisation of the matter.
“Luckily, they returned to us around 8pm yesterday (Thursday), and indeed our client (Shinga) is back at work,” said Mbhele.
NFP national administrator Themba Dladla said his party’s lawyers will file opposing papers.
“Our position is that Judge Mngadi’s judgment is clear, final, and operative unless overturned by a competent appellate court, and we intend to defend its enforcement.
“The Party is currently expediting its legal strategy to ensure that its challenge to the application is filed timeously and in full compliance with the prescripts of the Superior Courts Act and the Rules of Court,” said Dladla.
Image: File
According to Dladla, Boyce is bound by Judge Mngadi’s order.
“That order remains valid, binding, and enforceable unless suspended by an appellate court.
“An Application for Leave to Appeal does not automatically suspend a judgment.
“Should the Speaker fail to do so, the NFP will have no alternative but to approach the High Court for enforcement of the judgment,” he said.
Mbhele said the court would hear the application for leave to appeal on October 19.
He said the intention is to launch the appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, and added that his client would fight for her rights all the way to the Constitutional Court.
Mbhele said the law prohibits him from discussing the merits and demerits of Shinga’s application before the court hears it. But he said there are strong prospects of the court granting Shinga’s application as there are grounds for the appeal to be successful.
After receiving court papers from Mbhele, Boyce wrote to NFP secretary-general Sunset Xaba, stating that the swearing-in would no longer take place.
“I accept that the declaration of the vacancy made on the 15th September 2026 is ineffectual and that Ms Mbali Shinga remains a member of the Legislature pending the appeal of the judgment and order of Mngadi J,” read the letter, which Boyce’s spokesperson Nomusa Phungula confirmed.
Before Shinga applied for leave to appeal, Dladla had said Barnes would replace Shinga and that he would now sit on the opposition bench with MKP and EFF, leaving Premier Thami Ntuli’s GPU, which comprises the IFP, DA and ANC.
“We made it clear last year that we are not part of the GPU,” said Dladla.
Barnes becoming the MPL would leave the GPU vulnerable, as he supported the MKP’s December 2025 motion of no confidence against the cabinet, which was unsuccessful because Shinga voted against it.
The MKP was hopeful that with the NFP joining the opposition, Barnes would table a fresh motion.
“We will deal with the issue of the motion as soon as this legal battle is over. As soon as Barnes is sworn in, Barnes himself will table a motion,” said MKP spokesperson, Siphiwe Mbatha-Moyo.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear when the eThekwini Municipality will declare the NFP’s only council seat vacant. This follows as the party’s requested the removal of Deputy Mayor Zandile Myeni after she left the NFP to join the lesser-known National People’s Ambassadors (NPA).
The party informed City Manager Musa Mbhele on September 9 that it had fired Myeni after she announced her NPA membership at a press conference in Durban on September 3.
Image: eThekwini Municipality
However, she still holds the NFP’s PR council seat and remains deputy mayor.
When questioned about Myeni, eThekwini spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila declined to answer. “As a matter of principle, the Municipality does not comment publicly on individual councillor membership or vacancy processes through the media.
“Such operational matters are handled directly through official administrative correspondence with the relevant political party and the IEC,” he said.
Mzila said there were processes for declaring the PR seat vacant, but he could not divulge those processes, which he said are strictly governed by municipal legislation and statutory regulations that prescribe specific procedures and timelines involving the municipality, the affected political party, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
IEC’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said that despite upcoming elections, PR councillors can still be replaced.
“The Municipal Manager must declare a vacancy to the IEC, then we will replace her with the next councillor on the NFP PR list,” said Ngwira.
In a letter to Mbhele, Barnes said the party wanted Myeni removed from the council since she is now campaigning for the NPA and encouraging other NFP members to resign.
“Accordingly, her membership in the NFP has automatically terminated in line with the Constitution.
“Accordingly, Cllr ZP Myeni has automatically forfeited her seat at the eThekwini Metro Municipal Council,” said Barnes.
He then requested that Myeni’s seat be declared vacant and that the prescribed processes be initiated for filling the vacancy in accordance with the Municipal Structures Act and IEC regulations.
However, Xaba said Mbhele has not responded to Barnes’s letter, leaving Myeni continuing to serve as the councillor without the NFP’s mandate.
“The NFP did give instructions to the municipal manager, but they are still embracing her as a councillor illegally.
“The matter was referred to the municipal manager, who plays dirty tactics on the matter, failing to implement a party mandate,” said Xaba.
