1. ELECTION OF GOVERNING BODIES BETWEEN 1 MAY 2006 AND 30 JUNE 2006
1.1 The Department of Education has drawn up National Guidelines for the election of School Governing Bodies to ensure conformity in the nomination and election process for governing bodies at public schools. These Guidelines differ from the existing procedure manual for the Constitution and Functions of Governing Bodies of Ordinary Public Schools in respect of the aspects indicted in paragraph 1.3 of this circular.
1.2 Training sessions for electoral officers who must attend to the election of governing bodies have already taken place in terms of the existing WCED Measures. The existing Provincial Measures could not be brought in line with the National Guidelines due to the lateness of the announcement of said Guidelines. The WCED is therefore now amending its Measures, which will become applicable from the date of publication.
1.3

The Provincial Measures (Provincial Gazettes Extraordinary 5946 of Friday 31 January 2003 and 6001 of Tuesday 29 April 2003) differ from the National Guidelines as indicated below. The measures given in Column C will be applicable for the 2006 governing body elections.

COLUMN A
(WCED Measures)		 COLUMN B
(National Guidelines)		 COLUMN C      
Measure 3(a)
3. Disqualification of Members of a Governing Body
A person shall be ineligible to be elected or appointed as a member of a governing body if he or she –
(a) has at any time been convicted of an offence for which he or she was sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine, unless he or she has received a free pardon or the period of his or her imprisonment has expired at least three years prior to the date of his or her election as a member of such body.		 Paragraph 6.2
Disqualification of Members of a Governing Body
A person shall be ineligible to be a member of a governing body if he or she has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment without an option of a fine for a period exceeding six months or has not yet served his or her full term of imprisonment. 		Measure 3(a)
Measure 9(1)
9. Notice of a Nomination and Election Meeting of Parent Members
(1) The electoral officer shall prepare a notice in the form of Annexure A, of the nomination and election meeting referred to in measure 8 in which the date, time and place of such meeting shall be stated and shall, at least 20 days prior to the date of the nomination and election meeting, provide the principal with a sufficient number of copies of such notice in order that the provisions of submeasure
(2) may be carried into effect 		Paragraph 9.1
Notice of Nomination and Election of Parent Members
(i) The electoral officer shall prepare notices of the nomination process, and the combined nomination and election meeting in which the date, time and place of the nomination and election meeting be stated.
(ii) These notices could also be distributed and displayed in prominent places in the school and community at least 30 days prior to the date of the nomination and election meeting.		 Measure 9(1) and
Paragraph 9.1(ii)
Measure 11(5)(a)
11. Nomination of Parent Members
(5)(a) If the total number of parent candidates whose nominations have been accepted as contemplated in submeasure (4), is less than the number of members determined in terms of measure 2(1)(a) in respect of the governing body concerned, a new meeting at which new parent candidates must be nominated must be convened in accordance with the provisions of these measures. 		Paragraph 9.2
Nominations of Parent Members
(i)If the total number of candidates whose nominations have been accepted is fewer than the number of SGB members stipulated through provincial regulations for the school, a new meeting at which new candidates must be nominated shall be convened within 21 days;
(ii)where no quorum is required		 Measure 11(5)(a)
and
Paragraph 9.2(ii)
Measure 12(2)
12 Poll
(2) A quorum for the poll referred to in submeasure (1) shall be equal to 10% of the total number of enrolled learners of the school and is determined as follows: Total enrolled learners = 800 Quorum = 800 x 10% = 80 parents. 		Paragraph 9.3
Poll
(i) For the nomination and election meeting a quorum of 15% based on the number of parents on the voters’ roll is needed for the meeting to go ahead. It means that if a school has 500 learners then a minimum of 75 parents must attend the election meeting.
(ii) If a quorum is not met at the meeting the meeting must be re-scheduled for another day and the same process described above must be repeated. Notice of the second election meeting should clearly state that no quorum is required for this meeting.		 Measure 12(2)
and
Paragraph 9.3(ii)
Measure 13(1)
13 Nomination and Election Meeting of Educator Members
(1) The electoral officer shall determine a date, time and place for a meeting for the nomination and election of educator members, which shall be held within five days of the nomination and election meeting for parent members.		 Paragraph 10
Election Procedure for the Educator Component of the Governing Body
The electoral officer will decide a date, time and place for the nomination and election meeting for educator members. This meeting must be held at least 7 days before the election of parent members.		 Measure 13(1)
Measure 17(2)
17 Decision of Electoral Officer
(2) Any person who wishes to lodge an objection with regard to the matters referred to in submeasure (1), must lodge such an objection in writing within 14 days after the election of members in a specific category with the electoral officer, who decides thereon 		Paragraph 9.5
Decision of the Electoral Officer
The electoral officer shall decide all matters connected with the nomination of candidates and the poll. All disputes should be reported to the officiating electoral officer during the process of the elections. The electoral officer is mandated to resolve all disputes in order to declare elections undisputed. His or her decision during the election is final.		 Measure 17(2)

1.4 It has also come to the attention of the WCED that there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty amongst principals concerning the elections for school governing bodies which must be held during May and June 2006. This decision was taken by the Committee for Heads of the different Education Departments (HEDCOM) and cannot be deviated from.
1.5 The WCED is aware of the fact that the term of office of some governing bodies expire after the proposed election period. The Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education: Western Cape will be requested to give notice in the Provincial Gazette that in cases where the term of office of a governing body expires after 30 June 2006, the new governing body must nevertheless be elected before the end of June 2006. The existing governing body must cease to function as soon as a new governing body is elected.
1.6 Legal advice obtained indicates that the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84/1996), as amended, determines the maximum term of office of a governing body member and not the minimum term of office. The legal implication, therefore, is that the election of a new school governing body can be held, even if the current governing body’s three-year term of office has not been completed.
1.7 Principals of public schools are requested to inform this office, via their EMDCs, of the dates, on which governing body elections will take place for their schools. The requested information will be sent to the Department of Education.

2. DETAILS OF NEWLY ELECTED GOVERNING BODY
2.1 The term of office of a governing body commences from the date of the first meeting after the election.
2.2 Principals of public schools are requested to complete the attached form by filling in the details of the newly elected governing body and to send it soon after the first meeting of the governing body to Head Office at the following address: 
Head: Education
Western Cape Education Department
For attention: Mr I Morkel/A Brierley (Room:6-14)
Private Bag X9114
CAPE TOWN
8000
2.3 Details of the Representative Council of Learners (RCL) must also be forwarded to this office annually, soon after such election has been held.

3. CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNING BODY
3.1 Section 18(3) of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84/1996), as amended, determines that every governing body must draw up a constitution and must submit a copy to the Head of Department within 90 days after the first meeting.
3.2 This implies that new governing bodies cannot just take over the constitution of the old governing body.
3.3 The constitution must be submitted to the EMDC for scrutiny and confirmation that it is in order. If the constitution is found to be in order, it must be referred back to the school and a copy must be send to Head office.
3.4 It is trusted that this circular will clarify any uncertainty, which may have arisen with regard to the election of governing bodies for 2006. If you have any further problems you can phone Mr I Morkel at telephone number 021-4672768 or contact can be made at fax number 021-2996.


SIGNED: J.H. LYNERS
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2006:04:20

Governing Body Database form  (size: 33 KB)