The success of a country's education system depends to a large extent on the mutual trust and co-operation existing between all partners. However, numerous documented incidents in the media have confirmed that there is a field of tension between school governing bodies of public schools in South Africa and the Department of Education, which is of great concern to all partners in the system, especially as these parent bodies were established by the current government to be partners in the management of their children's schools. This empirical investigation was undertaken to identify and analyse the origin and extent of the tension and to suggest practical and workable solutions to defuse the situation. The views of respondents from both parties were elicited and the results confirmed the existence of tension and mistrust.