By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
National Freedom Party (NFP) on Saturday, suspended its president Ivan Barnes from all activities, structures and responsibilities of the party, pending finalization of the disciplinary proceedings.
In a letter that Fulview has seen, NFP National Chairperson Sibusiso Mkhabela, says the decision follows failure to respond to the letter dated 11 June 2026, requiring explanation on serious allegations and constitutional concerns that strikes unity, integrity and governance of the party.
This comes after Barnes has expressed disappointment at the court decision blocking Mbali Shinga’s removal from the legislature.
The court ruled that Shinga should remain an NFP member and a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature for now, after finding that the party’s disciplinary and appeal processes had not been finally determined.
Barnes said on Friday: “The NFP National Executive Committee will meet [on Sunday] to attend to the interim (court order) and abide by the ruling.”
NFP won 19,548 votes of the 3.5 million cast in KZN, making the infamously fractious party KZN’s kingmaker.
The MK party swept the floor in the 2024 elections in KZN, securing 37 of the 80 seats, but the opposition united to keep it out of power.
The legislature has 80 members. If MK, EFF, and NFP were to form a pact, it would be divided 40–40, leaving the provincial government unable to pass any legislation. MK party has 37 seats, the EFF has two, and the NFP has one. The IFP holds 15 seats, the ANC 14 and the DA 11.
The party has a patchy history. In the 2016 local government elections, it botched its registration and completed the paperwork in only one municipality nationwide, securing it a paltry 5,000 votes.
In 2019, Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi had a stroke. She died in 2021, the year Shinga was elected to the party’s national executive committee.
In the 2021 local government elections, the NFP had a spectacular bounce-back, securing 157,000 votes in KZN municipalities.
At the time, the NFP had only one seat in the KZN legislature. Its sole MPL resigned to start his own political party, and Shinga was appointed to replace him in October 2022.
Shinga applied herself and raised her profile so that a year later, at the NFP’s KZN conference, she was elected chair. A few months later, in December 2023, the party held its national conference, bedevilled by infighting and court challenges.