South Africa’s education debates often centre on curriculum, infrastructure or funding. Far less attention is paid to the people who lead schools — or to the partnerships capable of strengthening their leadership.
At Standard Bank’s Rosebank offices on 27 February, the closing of Citizen Leader Lab’s 58th Leaders for Education cohort brought business leaders and school principals together after a year of collaboration. Leadership was placed under the spotlight, and a critical question was raised: Might empowering school principals, supported by cross-sector partnerships, be one of education reform’s most neglected levers?
Leadership: A shared endeavour
Facilitator Chivonne Abrahams described the programme as built on citizen leadership, the idea that leadership capacity exists in all people, not only those in formal roles.
“Citizen leadership means leadership is not someone else’s responsibility. It is something inherent in all of us,” she reminded participants.
Over 12 months of workshops, school visits and collaboration, participants confronted the realities of South Africa’s education system firsthand. Rather than retreat into despair, she noted, this cohort chose engagement.
“When it comes to South Africa’s education system, it’s easy to slip into overwhelm. This cohort chose to engage with it instead,” she said, praising the cohort’s journey as one marked by “respect, humility and curiosity”.
That willingness to engage across sectors became one of the defining features of the year. Business leaders entered school environments often unfamiliar to them, while school principals, many accustomed to working in isolation, gained thinking partners outside of education.
Systems move at the speed of partnership
For Dr Kirston Greenop, Head of Corporate Citizenship at Standard Bank the programme’s success lay not simply in participation numbers but in the depth of impact made.
“We must keep asking: What has changed in the system? What broader impact has been made?” The leaders for Education programme, she suggested, operates as a catalyst, producing both measurable outcomes and what she described as “incidental impact” that continues long after formal participation ends.
Citizen Leader Lab Regional Manager, Audrey Jones emphasised the role of school leadership. “Leaders for Education empowers school principals and empowered principals transform schools,” she said, thanking partners and funders whose support makes this leadership development possible.
From intervention to policy ambition
For Citizen Leader Lab CEO, Komala Pillay, the work speaks to a larger national imperative. “Our challenges cannot be solved by one organisation or by the Department of Basic Education alone,” she said. “We have to invest in humans for the long term.” The organisation, she noted, will continue designing programmes that respond to the leadership needs consistently raised by the Department.
Citizen Leader Lab Board Member, Thomas Holtz, offered a bold vision for the future. “Our dream is for the Leaders for Education programme to be embedded, even made mandatory, by the Department of Basic Education for all school principals,” he said.
Leadership, softened
For many participating school principals, the leadership journey started inward.
After 26 years at the St Vincent School for the Deaf, Winners Shishenge entered the Leaders for Education programme shortly after his promotion to principal. He reflected candidly on his leadership evolution.
“I used to interrupt people,” he admitted. “Now, even if I don’t like what someone is saying, I listen because I have nothing to lose.”
For Muhammad Khan, Principal of Saxonwold Primary, the journey began amid crisis. The school had been declared bankrupt, forcing retrenchments during his first year.
“If I hadn’t joined Citizen Leader Lab, I believe I would still be struggling. It was comforting to know we are all in the same boat. Nothing is too difficult to overcome,’’ he reflected.
Learning on equal ground
Participating business leaders were surprised to find themselves transformed. Davi Moodley of Unique Spaces Leadership and Coaching said the programme left her “irrevocably humbled”, pointing out that she learned to lead “as a convenor, not a saviour”. “We all complain about the education system, but what does it mean to be part of making it better? That is the privilege,” she said.
For Mona Naidoo, a self-employed Women’s Empowerment Mentor, Executive Coach and Abundant Living Expert, the programme became “a container nurturing the seeds for growth”, creating space for school principals and business leaders to practise leadership together.
Many business participants arrived expecting to give expertise. Nomvelo Shabalala of Mimecast admitted she initially believed her role was simply to contribute resources.
“I thought my role was to give,” she said. “But I learned to really lead ‘with’ people.”
Not just in theory
School principals have already begun translating the lessons of the Leaders for Education programme into concrete improvements across their schools.
Gasen Naicker, principal of Roodepoort Primary, revived learner awards ceremonies that had not taken place since the COVID pandemic.
Sylvia Pole, principal of Primrose Hill School, introduced distributed leadership practices. She engaged the parents more actively — and this inspired many of them to voluntarily pay school fees for other learners who could not afford them.
For newly appointed principal of Boepakitso Primary principal, Lindiwe Sihlali, the programme helped stabilise a leadership transition while improving foundation-phase literacy through reading centres and an increased focus on mother-tongue-based education.
Influence, redefined
Adrian Grimett of RCL Foods credited Citizen Leader Lab’s unique partnership model for encouraging deeper reflection. “The programme helped us slow down and think about how we sometimes contribute to the problems ourselves.”
For Malusi Mbonani of Standard Bank, the journey restored optimism. “We, the people, are the solution,” he said, describing his renewed belief in South Africa’s potential.
And for Sifiso Khuboni of NETCARE, the comparison was unequivocal. “An MBA has nothing on this programme.”
With the cohort’s journey complete, the question posed earlier still lingers: What has changed in the system?
Perhaps the answer lies in leaders who now approach challenges in schools differently: Less isolated, more connected and freshly convinced that change begins with the shared work of leadership.