Internal tensions inside the National Freedom Party (NFP) have spiled into the open, with party now accusing a group of suspended senior leaders of quietly seting up a rival political outfit. The allegations land at a politically sensitive moment, as the NFP scrambles to project stability while disciplining figures aligned with recently expelled member Mbali Shinga.
The fallout escalated over the weekend when the party moved against two prominent leaders. It suspended its KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Zodwa Mtshali, and dismissed its national chairperson, Shevu Mkhabela. Both had publicly backed Shinga, who was expelled and stripped of her seat in the provincial Legislature.
The claim that a breakaway party is in the works came from Secretary-General Sunset Xaba, who spoke on Tuesday while defending the decision to suspend Mtshali. According to Xaba, the leadership has information that Mtshali, Mkhabela and other expelled members have already registered a separate political party.
“We know that they have plan B,” Xaba said. He went further, questioning why the group had not simply walked away. “I wonder why they don’t just quit rather than causing havoc and instability in the organisation we are working hard to rebuild,” he said.
Xaba framed the suspension as a constitutional matter rather than a factional purge. He argued that Mtshali breached the party’s constitution and the code of conduct for NFP public representatives when she issued a statement backing Shinga without clearance from the provincial executive committee (PEC).
“She did what she did without the PEC’s knowledge. She has been pushing an agenda for Shinga to become the party president and with her faction she has been trying to overthrow the NEC,” Xaba said. The accusation paints Mtshali as the centre of a cordinated campaign against the current leadership.
Inside the National Freedom Party power struggle and the rival party claims
Mtshali, who also serves as deputy mayor in the Mhlabuyalingana Local Municipality, flatly rejected the allegations. She said she knew nothing about any new party, pointing out that she had only been suspended on Sunday. She also denied any plot to unseat party president Ivan Barnes.
She raised a practical objection too, noting that the timing made the claim implausible. “How would I have formed a new party because I was suspended on Sunday. How can we register a party after the announcement of an election date,” she said, arguing that no party may be registered once the president has proclaimed an election date.
Mkhabela, who is mayor of the eDumbe Local Municipality, has been a central figure in the standoff. Earlier this year he led a group that stormed a hotel room in Durban, demanding that Shinga’s disciplinary proceedings be halted. He later held a media briefing attacking the leadership for charging her, and the party is now expected to remove him as mayor.
Here is how the dispute breaks down across the key figures and their stated positions:
| Figure | Role | Status | Position in the dispute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mbali Shinga | Former MPL | Expelled, removed from Legislature | Centre of the support faction |
| Zodwa Mtshali | KZN provincial secretary, deputy mayor | Suspended | Denies new party and any plot |
| Shevu Mkhabela | National chairperson, eDumbe mayor | Dismissed | Led protest against Shinga’s discipline |
| Sunset Xaba | Secretary-General | Active in leadership | Driving the disciplinary action |
| Ivan Barnes | Party president | Active in leadership | Named target of aleged plot |
The table makes the fault line clear: a leadership bloc anchored by Xaba and Barnes is moving against a Shinga-aligned camp, with each side reading the same events in opposite ways.
The disagreement is as much about procedure as politics. Xaba’s case rests on the argument that internal channels were bypassed, while Mtshali’s defence leans heavily on timing and electoral law to dismiss the rival party claim outright.
| Allegation by leadership | Response from suspended members |
|---|---|
| A new party has been secretly registered | Mtshali says she knows nothing about it |
| Mtshali acted without PEC approval | She frames her support as internal expression |
| A faction is trying to overthrow the NEC | She denies any plot against Barnes |
| Members have a “plan B“ | Registration is legally impossible after an election date is set |
The second table shows how little common ground remains. Every accusation from the leadership is met with a direct rebuttal, leaving the truth of the rival party claim unresolved for now.
As we reported in our earlier coverage, the KZN Legislature has already begun the process to replace Shinga, underscoring how far the rupture has progressed beyond internal party committees and into formal provincial structures.
Efforts to reach Mkhabela and another official named Mavuso were unsuccessful, while a figure identified as Thwala rejected the claims advanced by Xaba. The absence of a unified response from the accused leaves the rival party allegation hanging without confirmation.
What emerges is a party trying to steady itself while fighting on two fronts. The leadership insists it is rebuilding and enforcing discipline, yet the very public nature of the suspensions, the storming of a Durban hotel, and now talk of a breakaway suggest the National Freedom Party is wrestling with a deper structural crisis. Whether the rival party exists or not, the damage to internal trust is already plain, and the coming weeks, set against a looming election timetable, will test whether the NFP can hold its KwaZulu-Natal base together or watch it splinter.