Abstract
The success of a country’s education system depends to a large extent on the
mutual trust and co-operation existing between all partners. However, numerous
documented incidents in the media have confirmed that there is a field of tension
between school governing bodies of public schools in South Africa and the
Department of Education, which is of great concern to all partners in the system,
especially as these parent bodies were established by the current government
to be partners in the management of their children’s schools. This empirical
investigation was undertaken to identify and analyse the origin and extent of
the tension and to suggest practical and workable solutions to defuse the situation.
The views of respondents from both parties were elicited and the results
confirmed the existence of tension and mistrust.