Bus drivers scored a big victory after they were allowed to go on strike as they cannot be classified as an essential service like the police.

This comes after the National Black Consumer Council, a nonprofit organisation, applied to the the Essential Service Committee (ESC) to classify public transport in general as an essential service after last year’s crippling strike.

The bus strike began on April 18 and ended on May 14, and affected about one million commuters around the country.

About 17,000 bus drivers participated in the strike after wage negotiations deadlocked.

The council applied to the ESC, a body established in terms of section 70 of the Labour Relations Act, to conduct investigations on services deemed essential and then to designate it accordingly.

The ESC dismissed the application in February, but served the ruling to concerned parties two weeks ago.

The application to classify public transport as an essential service was supported by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Golden Arrow Bus Services, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Commuter Bus Employers Organisation and South African Bus Employers Association – who all filed submissions supporting the application.

In terms of the act, an essential service is “a service the interruption of which endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the population”.

The council had argued that the public transport service, in particular the bus service, be declared an essential service as it affected many consumers who were left stranded due to the national bus strike.

The council argued this had added effects on “other consumers in other sectors like hospitals, schools, fire and emergency services, water services etc”.

Source: Sowetan – Isaac Mahlangu