KZN Government of Provincial Unity downplays NFP exit

By Johnathan Paoli

KwaZulu-Natal’s governing coalition parties played down the National Freedom Party’s (NFP) withdrawal from the  Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) on Thursday, saying the administration remained in place despite the coalition losing its one-seat majority in the 80-member legislature.

The NFP announced this week it would leave the GPU with immediate effect and instructed its only MPL and Social Development MEC, Mbali Shinga, to resign from the provincial executive by 9 am on Thursday. Shinga refused and is currently undergoing a disciplinary hearing because of that decision.

The coalition, initially comprising the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and the NFP, elected the IFP’s Thami Ntuli as premier after provincial elections in 2024.

With the NFP exiting, the ANC-IFP-DA bloc will hold 40 seats, equal to half the chamber, leaving it short of the 41-seat working majority it previously relied on.  

But