The research pivoted on the question whether South African school principals fulfilled their caring role towards teachers. The aims of the study were threefold. First, to determine how principals rated their care-giving, secondly to determine whether significant discrepancies existed between principals' rating of their care-giving and teachers' experiences thereof and thirdly to identify the determinants of care that contributed the most and the least towards principals' care-giving and teachers' ratings thereof. A survey was conducted among a sample of South African teachers and the findings revealed that principals rated their care-giving more positively than teachers did, specifically with regard to certain psychological aspects of care. It is recommended that a strategy should be developed in which the caring role of principals should be addressed. In such a strategy a personal development plan for principals should be included, which addresses specifically the psychological determinants of care.