National Freedom Party out of the elections after losing last gasp bid



The National Freedom Party (NFP) will not contest the local government elections in August‚ throwing the party’s survival into doubt. This follows the Electoral Court’s decision to dismiss the party’s bid to be included on the ballot paper‚ after missing the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC’s) payment deadline.The Electoral Court’s decision is a blow for the already embattled NFP‚ the country’s fifth-biggest political party‚ whose leader Zanele Magwaza-Msibi has been out of action for more than a year after falling ill at the end of 2014‚ leading to a vacuum that led to divisions within the party.At the weekend two senior party members‚ secretary-general Nhlanhla Khubisa and national chairman Maliyakhe Shelembe‚ resigned from the NFP. The party approached the Electoral Court last week after treasurer Xolani Ndlovu‚ in what the party called an “administrative error”‚ misread the deadline provided by the IEC and paid the R90‚000 deposit late.The IEC on Monday said the court had dismissed the NFP matter. The order was issued on Saturday. However‚ the NFP made no mention of the court’s decision at a press briefing held in Durban on Sunday. But it did announce that it had decided to suspend deputy chairman Scelo Mabika and Ndlovu.This means the party‚ formed on the eve of the 2011 local government polls‚ will have no representation at local government elections ahead of the next general election in 2019.The NFP was a breakaway party from the Inkatha Freedom Party. It is not clear whether the fracturing party can survive if it cannot contest the August 3 elections. Worsening its position are the suspensions and resignations of party leaders.The party has said it will take the matter all the way to the Constitutional Court in a bid to contest the polls.In 2011‚ the NFP won 644‚917 votes‚ giving it more than 200 councillors‚ mainly in KwaZulu-Natal.The NFP went on to forge a coalition with the ANC in 19 hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.Magwaza-Msibi has worked closely with the ANC‚ and is the deputy minister of science and technology‚ but has not been active since her illness.- TMG Digital/BDLive