- KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga and eThekwini deputy mayor Zandile Myeni rejected letters from party leaders ordering them to resign.
- Shinga blocked NFP president Ivan Rowan Barnes’s attempt to replace her after her crucial vote kept the Government of Provincial Unity in power.
As women’s month is marked across South Africa, two female leaders in the National Freedom Party are standing firm against pressure from male colleagues.
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga, who also chairs the party, and eThekwini deputy mayor Zandile Myeni both received letters from NFP leaders telling them to resign from their government posts.
Instead of giving in, they fought back. Shinga went as far as calling in her lawyers to stop NFP president Ivan Rowan Barnes from removing her.
“I am not going anywhere. My focus is to work for our people and I’m on the ground every day to carry on with my duties,” she said.
Barnes is said to want Shinga replaced as MEC. But her vote in the provincial legislature proved decisive when the uMkhonto weSizwe Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters tried to take control of the province.
Shinga’s choice helped the Inkatha Freedom Party, the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance form the Government of Provincial Unity in KwaZulu-Natal.
Since then, party insiders say some men have backed off from their push to remove her and Myeni.
Pictured above: NFP women Mbali Shinga and Zandile Myeni with KZN Premier Thami Ntuli.These two women have fought against patriarchy in the NFP.
Image source: KZN Office of the Premier
