National Freedom Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | NFP |
| Leader | Ivan Rowan Barnes[1] |
| Secretary-General | Teddy Thwala |
| Founder | Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi |
| Founded | 25 January 2011 (2011-01-25) |
| Split from | Inkatha Freedom Party |
| Ideology | Social democracy Egalitarianism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Colours | Orange Green |
| National Assembly seats | 0 / 400 |
| NCOP seats | 0 / 90 |
| Provincial Legislatures | 1 / 430 |
TheNational Freedom Party (NFP) is aSouth African political party. It was launched on 25 January 2011 byZanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, former chairperson of theInkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with other former IFP members.[2] Similar to the IFP, the party's main base is inKwaZulu-Natal.
In the2011 municipal election, the NFP received 2.4% of the votes cast in South Africa,[3] and 10.4% of the votes cast inKwaZulu-Natal province.[4] It won a majority of seats in theeDumbe Local Municipality and a plurality inNongoma Local Municipality. Following the2014 South African general election, the party's leader Magwaza-Msibi was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.[5] The party was disqualified from participating in the2016 municipal election as it had failed to pay the election fee to the Independent Electoral Commission.[6]
The party contested the2019 general elections and its support levels dropped.[7] The party lost four seats in the National Assembly, bringing their seat total to only two seats. In KwaZulu-Natal, the party's support was greatly diminished. The party had lost five seats in the provincial legislature, but managed to win a single seat, occupied by the party's National Organizer, Cynthia Mbali Shinga. Magwaza-Msibi was not reappointed to the cabinet and resigned as an MP on 20 June 2019, citing her intention to rebuild the party.[8]
On 6 September 2021, shortly before the2021 South African municipal elections, Magwaza-Msibi died from a COVID-19-related cardiac arrest.[9]
The party won 170,616 votes, 0.56% of the national total, in the elections, winning back one municipality it formerly ran in 2011 to 2016, theeDumbe Local Municipality.[8]
A party conference electedIvan Rowan Barnes as president andTeddy Thwala as secretary-general in December 2023. The election was disputed by former secretary-generalCanaan Mdletshe.[10]
Before the2024 South African general election Thwala and Barnes fell out. Thwala tried to stop the submission of the electoral lists to theIndependent Electoral Commission in thePietermaritzburg High Court, but failed.[11]
In June 2025, the party ousted Mbali Shinga, the party's sole MEC in KwaZulu-Natal, with Barnes in position to replace her.[12]
| Election | Party leader | Total votes | Share of vote | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi | 288,742 | 1.57% | 6 / 400 | New | Opposition |
| 2019 | 61,220 | 0.35% | 2 / 400 |  4 | Opposition | |
| 2024 | Ivan Rowan Barnes | 19,397 | 0.12%[a] | 0 / 400 | 2 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election[13][14] | Eastern Cape | Free State | Gauteng | Kwazulu-Natal | Limpopo | Mpumalanga | North-West | Northern Cape | Western Cape | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | |
| 2014 | 0.16 | 0/63 | 0.11 | 0/30 | 0.47 | 0/73 | 7.31 | 6/80 | 0.04 | 0/49 | 0.75 | 0/30 | 0.15 | 0/33 | 0.03 | 0/30 | 0.04 | 0/42 |
| 2019 | 0.03 | 0/63 | 0.03 | 0/30 | 0.07 | 0/73 | 1.57 | 1/80 | 0.01 | 0/49 | 0.12 | 0/30 | 0.06 | 0/33 | 0.04 | 0/30 | 0.11 | 0/42 |
| 2024 | 0.03 | 0/30 | 0.03 | 0/80 | 0.56 | 1/80 | 0.04 | 0/51 | ||||||||||
| Election | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 644,917 | 2.4% |
| 2016[15] | 5,224 | 0.01% |
| 2021[16] | 170,616 | 0.56% |
A number of small parties have broken away from the NFP, including theAbantu Batho Congress, theAfrican People's Movement, formed by former chairperson Vikizitha Mlotshwa, and theNational People's Front, formed by former national deputy chairperson Bheki Gumbi.[17]
Former NFP member of parliamentMunzoor Shaik Emam joined theAllied Movement for Change and took over as party leader.[18]