What does this research mean for the field?

In high-violence South African secondary schools, School Governing Bodies are largely disengaged from their statutory safety governance mandates, leading to reactive, fragmented, and under-resourced safety management despite robust legislative frameworks. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This article investigates the functioning of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) under conditions of chronic violence in Gauteng's secondary schools.

July 2, 2026F1000ResearchOpen Access

Governing in the Shadow of Violence: School Governing Bodies and the Safety Governance Gap in High-Violence Secondary Schools in Gauteng

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Authors

KMKemoneilwe Noreen MetsingUniversity of South Africa

Discussion

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Implication

Qualitative case study explores safety governance failures in high-violence secondary schools, highlighting urgent needs for improvement.

Key Points

This article investigates the functioning of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) under conditions of chronic violence in Gauteng's secondary schools.
Qualitative multiple case study design
Focus group interviews with 30 teachers and semi-structured interviews with 5 principals
Documentary review and non-participant observation
SGBs are perceived as disengaged from their safety governance role, with incidents redirected to School-Based Support Teams (SBSTs) rather than being addressed directly
Implementation of safety governance policies is hindered by non-compliance, policy fragmentation, and insufficient resources
Safety management practices are reactive and uncoordinated, lacking a whole-school approach as envisioned by existing policies.

Cite This Study

Kemoneilwe Noreen Metsing (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a45ffd19ed13430313102a0 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.184750.1

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July 2, 2026F1000ResearchOpen Access

Governing in the Shadow of Violence: School Governing Bodies and the Safety Governance Gap in High-Violence Secondary Schools in Gauteng

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

KMKemoneilwe Noreen MetsingUniversity of South Africa

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Qualitative case study explores safety governance failures in high-violence secondary schools, highlighting urgent needs for improvement.

Key Points

This article investigates the functioning of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) under conditions of chronic violence in Gauteng's secondary schools.
Qualitative multiple case study design
Focus group interviews with 30 teachers and semi-structured interviews with 5 principals
Documentary review and non-participant observation
SGBs are perceived as disengaged from their safety governance role, with incidents redirected to School-Based Support Teams (SBSTs) rather than being addressed directly
Implementation of safety governance policies is hindered by non-compliance, policy fragmentation, and insufficient resources
Safety management practices are reactive and uncoordinated, lacking a whole-school approach as envisioned by existing policies.

Cite This Study

Kemoneilwe Noreen Metsing (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a45ffd19ed13430313102a0 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.184750.1

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