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Elijah Mhlanga
Spokesperson for the basic education department
Your story titled, Noose tightens around sex offender teachers, reflects badly on our relationship with our trade unions in the education sector.
The insinuation that provincial education departments “have been stripped of their powers to conduct disciplinary hearings against sexual misconduct” is incorrect, misleading and insults the departments’ integrity.
It puts the improved relationship with our partner trade unions into jeopardy and disrepute. However, the rest of the article cannot be materially criticised as it depicts the intention of collective agreement secured through negotiations.
The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) is a bargaining council that serves the public education sector nationally and provincially. The primary business of the ELRC is to promote and maintain labour peace in the public education sector through the facilitation of negotiations between trade unions and the state.
This agreement was first tabled at the ELRC by the employer (basic education department / provincial education departments) on the May 21 last year. A subsequent meeting was held on July 3 last year and the agreement between parties was reached at the meeting on September 25 2018.
This signed collective agreement is meant to protect the pupils who are victims of alleged sexual misconduct committed by educators by not exposing them to a series of hearings to give the same evidence which result in many of them being traumatised, but subject them to one hearing as provided in section 188A of the Labour Relations Act for an inquiry by arbitrator.
