JOHANNESBURG: With draft BELA Act regulations now open for public comment and ahead of School Governing Body elections in March next year, parents have been urged to prepare in advance and take their voting power seriously.

Parents must stop blindly casting votes in school governing body (SGB) elections and start choosing candidates who actually possess the skills to govern, warned Governing Body Foundation chief executive Marna Jordaan.

“Often when you go to those elections, parents don’t even know the people; they just draw crosses, and they say, ‘I’ll let it be.’ Parents must be informed,” Jordaan told The Education Desk.

She called on parents to take SGB elections as seriously as political elections. “The election of SGBs is the third largest in the country, but there’s no hype about it like the National and local elections run by the IEC; That creates a problem because parents are not involved as they should be, because they don’t know,” Jordaan said.

Formal qualifications were not required; however, parents should consider which skills their school needed. “You don’t have to have a degree, but at least you have to say, we need someone that can guide the finances,” she said.

Often when you go to those elections, parents don’t even know the people; they just draw crosses, and they say, ‘I’ll let it be.

Her warning comes as the Department of Basic Education seeks public comment on proposed national election rules ahead of the March 2027 school governing body elections.

The draft notice gazetted this month requires schools to share candidate profiles with parents, including names, photographs, brief backgrounds and statements on their vision for the school.

While the existing framework relies on a single nomination and voting meeting, the draft notice introduces three standardised voting options nationally: a traditional meeting, full election-day voting, or secure electronic voting.

The notice flows from reforms under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which transfers authority to set SGB election rules from provincial education MECs to the national minister to create a unified framework.

The regulations – or instruments of implementation  – address weaknesses identified in the department’s 2022 School Monitoring Survey, cited in its Action Plan to 2029,   which found that of the 2000 schools surveyed, only 62% of SGBs met the minimum measure for effective functioning.

To address this, principals needed to confirm that their SGB performed four specified governance functions and also produced minutes for meetings during the first two quarters of the year.

The action plan argued that communities should use the elections to choose representatives who understand education processes and can advocate for improvements.

Jordaan said preparation was required before parents arrived to cast their ballots. “Schools should begin advocacy programmes, explaining what SGBs actually do and encouraging parents who can contribute meaningfully to make themselves available,” she said. “If I want things to improve in my school, I must get myself nominated.”

Election to the SGB did not give parents authority to manage principals. Rather, the role was to help the community decide the school’s direction and goals.

Once elected, members should act in the interests of the whole school, not a particular group.

SGBs exercise significant powers over school finances, policies, codes of conduct and recommendations for staff appointments. Weak governance can result in poor financial management, inappropriate appointments and conflict between principals and governing bodies.

Jordaan cautioned against parents supporting candidates because of friendships, connections or any other consideration other than the ability to do the job effectively. 

“The department should do a lot more to build capacity amongst the leadership in schools,” she said.

Unisa associate professor Gezani Baloyi said stronger human-resource capacity was needed to ensure the “right people are in the right positions” when exercising their considerable powers that included appointments.

South Africa often had sound policies but struggled with implementation. To safeguard against weak management, he argued, investment in skills and capacity-building was required, rather than removing people from their positions.

The BELA has also tightened SGB governance rules, requiring members to declare any direct or indirect personal or financial interest in recruitment or procurement matters and recuse themselves from the discussion and decision.

Under the amended South African Schools Act, governing bodies must also submit quarterly reports to provincial heads of department detailing school income and expenditure.

Provincial authorities have stronger powers to investigate school finances, while a Head Of Department may intervene when a governing body ceases to perform its functions and, after following due process, dissolve it and arrange a new election.

Speaking earlier in his personal capacity, Equal Education chairperson Mbekezeli Benjamin said that despite their significant powers, governing bodies had been neglected. SGBs, particularly in poorer communities, lacked members with the financial, regulatory and governance skills required to fulfil their responsibilities.

“We don’t have people with skills, people who could assist in managing the finances, or people who are serious, who can understand the rules.” He added that SGBs are legally permitted to co-opt non-voting external experts to fill skills gaps, yet the practice remained underutilised.

To comment on the draft regulations,  share contributions by 5 September to: SGBElections@dbe.gov.za

This article by EdDesk was also published in Sunday Times