Following suspensions of its members for disrupting the December 15 failed no-confidence motion against Premier Thami Ntuli, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) plans legal action against KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce. Premier Ntuli backs the move to restore order.
Speaker Nontembeko Boyce has suspended 32 to 36 Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs)—primarily from the MKP, plus one from the EFF—for five sittings starting January 12, 2025. This follows the chaotic December 15 session, where MKP-led disruptions during the failed open vote against Premier Ntuli prompted clashes and police intervention (as previously reported).
Boyce called the actions a 'deliberate coordinated assault on the dignity of the House' and affirmed the legislature 'will not tolerate violence, intimidation or deliberate disruption.' Suspended MKP caucus whip Siphiwe Moyo-Mbatha dismissed the decision as unlawful and politically motivated, lacking procedural fairness: 'We are consulting with our legal team because we strongly feel the speaker is abusing her powers.'
Premier Ntuli supported the suspensions, stressing accountability: 'The speaker has the responsibility to cause some action... even if it’s myself, people from the right or from the left, we will support her when there is unacceptable behaviour.'
This escalates ongoing tensions in the KZN legislature's Government of Provincial Unity, where MKP has repeatedly targeted Ntuli.
