Department of Education Extranet

2024 School Governing Body (SGB) Elections

The 1st of March marks the official start of the 2024 School Governing Body (SGB) Elections in the Province. A total of 554 public ordinary schools in the Northern Cape are set to participate in the 2024 SGB Elections. The regulations for the SGB Elections and the minimum requirements to which the Constitution of the School Governing Body must comply was published in the Government Gazette on 19 February 2024.

The most important and first function of a School Governing Body as outlined in Section 20 subsection (1) paragraph (a) of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 is to, “Promote the best interest of the school and strive to ensure its development through the provision of quality education for all learners at the school”. There is therefore a very strong connection between the core mandate of the Department of Education and that of the School Governing Bodies.

The National Department of Basic Education declared that this year’s SGB Elections must be held from 1-31 March 2024. The elections of members that serve on the SGB’s take place every three years. The last elections were held in 2021 and as a result SGBs in the Northern Cape are now approaching the expiry of their term of office.

The Department of Education in the Province has put systems in place to ensure that the 2024 SGB elections are run smoothly and in accordance with the principles of democracy, transparency, non-racism, non-sexism, accountability and most importantly, with the responsibility they deserve. The training of provincial, district and school electoral officers has already been completed.

The Department would like to thank all the outgoing school governing body members for their selfless commitment and excellent work and their contribution in the governance of schools in our Province. You have demonstrated in no uncertain terms, a sense of patriotism by accepting to work as volunteers in support of quality education.  In most instances you have discharged your civic duty with credibility and for that we are grateful.

It has been proven that School Governing Bodies play a crucial role in the success of our schools. Schools with effective and efficient SGB members are most likely to secure greater success than those with limited parental and community involvement. Creative and resourceful SGBs also play a fundamental role in mobilising scarce resources for education.

We need School Governing Bodies that will support curriculum delivery. We need to focus on the improvement of learner achievement by supporting schools in developing strategies for improving teaching and learning.

As part of our election strategy, the Department of Education will arrange induction workshops for all newly elected governing bodies. This will help the members to familiarize them with their roles and responsibilities.

We must make specific mention of the fact that School Governing Bodies operate within a Code of Conduct. The induction will therefore cover this area quite extensively because we need governing bodies that are going to be part of a solution.

The Department expects school governing bodies to fully grasp their roles in schools.  It should be noted that, SGBs are not elected to deal with the day to day running of the school that is the responsibility of the School Management Team. SGBs are responsible for policy issues and management of school finances, ensuring the safety of schools and other broader functions that result in the overall functionality of the school as an institution where quality teaching and learning takes priority. Any disruptions of teaching and learning of ANY class and ANY schools must be avoided at all costs.

We urge everyone that upon your return to your schools and communities, even if you are not re-elected into the SGB, it will be imperative that you continue to play an oversight role as a parent and ensure that good governance standards are maintained and upheld at all times.

The 2024 School Governing Body Elections will take place under the theme: “Advancing teaching and learning through collaboration and good governance”. We appeal to all members of society to make yourself available for nomination, attend meetings and participate in the SGB elections.

Parents are once again reminded to ensure their details are on the school's admission register, which will be used as the school's voter's roll. Take note, no parent will be allowed to take part in the SGB elections should their names not be in the school's admission register. The IEC has the same requirement during the National and Provincial Elections. Have your ID document, drivers licence ready, as you will be required to produce it on the day of the parent component election.

Let us make Education our business.

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