By Celani Sikhakhane
- NFP secretary general Sunset Xaba told Mbali Shinga she was expelled for skipping her appeal hearing held on 5 July.
- Party president Ivan Rowan Barnes will now take over Shinga’s seat as MEC for social development in the KZN legislature.
The National Freedom Party has expelled KZN social development MEC Mbali Shinga for the third time.
NFP secretary general Sunset Xaba wrote to Shinga on Monday, telling her she had been removed from the party and from her seat in the KZN Legislature.
The party has also written to KZN Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce, asking that Shinga be replaced by NFP president Ivan Rowan Barnes.
The letter said Shinga waived her right to appeal by failing to submit a written notice within the required five days. It said she abandoned the appeal process on 4 July and refused to attend a reconvened hearing the next day.
Shinga has fought her party leadership since last year. She was accused of helping the MK Party remove KZN Premier Thami Ntuli, so the MK Party and the EFF could form a new provincial government.
She was suspended in December and expelled in April. She took the matter to court.
In June, the Pietermaritzburg High Court overturned her expulsion. Hours later, the party expelled her again. It later changed that expulsion to a suspension.
On Monday, the NFP expelled her for a third time.
Shinga said she has lost count of how many times her own party has expelled her.
“I wonder how many times I have been expelled from the NFP,” she said.
“The recent expulsion is being dealt with by my legal team and we are preparing to take it to court.”
Legislature Speaker Boyce told Scrolla.Africa she could not comment. She said she was travelling and having trouble with directions.
Pictured above: KZN social development MEC Mbali Shinga, expelled by her party for the third time.
Image source: KZNDSD
