Playing host to many leaders of South Africa's transition to democracy, the historic schools continue to contribute to the education of learners in disadvantaged rural communities. Within the leadership narratives of these schools are the lived daily experiences of female educational leaders whose voice has been largely absent from main stream leadership discourse. Problematizing this silence, this paper draws on critical feminist leadership theory to explore social justice interpretations of female leaders in South Africa's historic schools. Data were collected through a qualitative research paradigm and from a critical feminist perspective. The aim of the study was to analyse and conceptualise educational leadership in relation to power and social justice in the post-Apartheid era. Contained within the findings are multiple narrations of leadership for social justice and an alternative interpretation to feminist servant leadership. In addition, the findings unlocked insights into the relationship between curriculum management, instructional leadership and critical pedagogy.