The Impact of Democracy on Leadership Styles

This study explored the impact of democracy on the leadership and management styles in two previously coloured primary schools in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province of South Africa. The research reflects racial tensions and conflict amongst educators and parents, which are both endemic and systemic.It explores how principals and educators use post-apartheid legislation policies and practices to address complex challenges in order to effect change. Despite tensions between coloured and black educators and parents, change is evident. The people learn to work together, respect each other and forge ahead. These challenges brought about by desegregation contribute to shaping a future non-racial, non-sexist South Africa. We see how mentalities of superiority and inferiority play itself out and how one group exercises its hegemony over another sometimes reflecting the social constructs of society during apartheid. The findings reveal that the Constitution of South Africa (1996) and the South African Schools Act (SASA) (1996) are not used sufficiently and substantively to influence change.