A clash between party discipline and constitutional law has unfolded in KwaZulu-Natal after the provincial legislature declined to enforce the National Freedom Party’s (NFP) suspension of one of its own Members of the Executive Council (MEC), Mbali Shinga.
In a letter dated 22 December 2025, the NFP’s Acting Secretary General, Sunset Bheki Xaba, informed the Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Nontembeko Boyce, that the party’s National Executive Committee had suspended Shinga’s party membership with immediate effect.
The party requested that Shinga be barred from representing the NFP in the legislature and indicated that she would be replaced.
However, Speaker Boyce cited Section 106(3) of the South African Constitution, which sets out the limited circumstances under which a person may lose membership of a provincial legislature.
The Speaker’s office concluded that Shinga’s suspension did not amount to her ceasing to be a party member and that none of the constitutional requirements for removal had been met.
The correspondence was copied to Shinga, highlighting the tension between internal party discipline and constitutional protections.
The NFP’s attempt to replace her as an MPL is effectively stalled unless her membership is formally terminated or she resigns.
MDNtv previously reported that Shinga’s suspension followed her defiance of party instructions during a vote in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.