Motivating for its call the DA pointed out that 42% working days in the 2008/09 financial year were lost due to strike action mainly called by South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu). The DA's figure of 42% is based on a review document released by Tokiso, a Dispute Settlement Service provider, which looked at the number of days lost due to strikes in the period 1995-2009.

In its scathing statement the opposition party said a choice should be made between having 'good teaching or Sadtu' but that that 'we cannot have both'. The statement says: "over the years Sadtu has single-mindedly pursued selfish, small-minded agenda which focused entirely on the personal interests of its most lazy and incompetent members...through its vigorous efforts to build a culture of greediness and irresponsibility amongst its members, it has helped to destroy the culture of learning", which resulted in 'catastrophic matric results'.

But this week, two major unions, beside Sadtu, also opposed the call. They said taking away teachers' right to strike would not solve the deep-seated challenges the education system faces. They also highlighted the fact that strike action is a fundamental democratic right and has been used sparingly as a last resort to extract concessions from the employer.

In its reaction, Sadtu said it is "disgusted but not surprised by the DA' s call' because the party is a 'champion of racial and class privillege' and has always been opposed to 'labour rights and strong trade unionism'. Sadtu said the DA made a 'superficial' reading of the document and also challenge Tokiso's findings, saying this suggests 'that teachers are prone to strike at the drop of a hat'.

The union said it is false to say teachers spend 42% of their time on strike. "This would mean that teachers were on strike for 1, 298 days over the last 15 years. In fact national teacher strikes account for 47 days lost over the period - an average of three per year. So actually, strikes are rare in Sadtu, but when a strike takes place in the sector it will be large in terms of workdays lost because of the size of the sector." Suid Afrikaanse Onderwyser-unie (Saou)'s Chris Klopper said the call amounts to treating symptoms. 'So we will not support it," he said. Klopper said taking away the right to strike would not address the 'deep-rooted problems in education'.

If DA has an issue with lack of 'work ethics' and other related issues, I would understand, said Klopper. He said the major problems in education relate to a lack of consistent in-service training, high absenteeism and insufficient infrastructure. "None of these problems can be resolved by declaring education an essential service," said Klopper.

Ezrah Ramasehla, president of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) said declaring the sector an essential service is a matter that needs thorough discussions between all the various key stakeholders, such as teacher unions and school governing bodies so that they can have an input. If the DA's call becomes a reality, it means we would lose one of the most potent weapons that we used to bargain, said Ramasehla. "It is a right that it would be difficult to abandon because it is a right we fought and sacrificed a lot for during the struggle against apartheid," he said.