A government agency is investigating whether to declare teachers and education support staff essential services, following a request from the DA.
The probe has potentially far-reaching implications, as workers who are deemed to render essential services have a limited right to strike.
The Labour Relations Act defines an essential service as one that, if interrupted, would endanger the life, personal safety or health of part of or all of the population.
The task of determining which services fall under this umbrella falls to the Essential Services Committee, which was established as a result of the act. The committee has declared 18 services to be essential, including air traffic control, blood transfusion services, firefighters and emergency health services.
The DA’s deputy education spokeswoman, Nomsa Marchesi, said the party sought to ensure that pupils were safe and secure at school in the event of industrial action.
"We want certain positions declared essential services. There must be someone in authority to look after learners and keep them safe. We have seen instances where learners are left alone and abandoned when teachers strike," she said.
The DA’s submission to the committee asks it to declare a minimum service level for school staff to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children at school. The submission states that "teachers’ unions have shown a blatant disregard for this duty of care, frequently engaging in union meetings and unplanned strikes during school hours. Learners are abandoned [and] unsupervised, thereby compromising their safety."
The ANC has also previously called for teaching to be declared an essential service, but the proposal was shot down by teacher unions, which described it as unconstitutional.
Mugwena Maluleke, the general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, said teaching could not be an essential service because "no life is threatened once it is not rendered".
"People do not understand what the ILO [International Labour Organisation] and the Constitution say about this issue," said Maluleke.
"Our position is informed by the ILO guidelines… we will be taking part in that debate [on teaching as an essential service], but we will also consider the Essential Services Committee list as a whole."
Committee chairman Luvuyo Bono said the DA’s request for an investigation into the services provided by basic education staff included those working in early childhood education. The committee will be holding public hearings in various cities around SA during July.
The committee is also conducting an investigation of whether public transport services should be declared an essential service.
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