Purpose: The democratic constitution that came into effect in 1994 and ushered in the new South Africa recognises parents' role in education hence the established of an innovative school governance structure of which parents are in the majority. Before then, there existed parents--teachers association in schools. Its members were handpicked and therefore undemocratic and ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the innovation in school governance encourages parents in the rural areas to be productively involved in school matters. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the qualitative research method of focus group interviews to explore the extent to which the school governing body fosters active involvement of parents in school matters. The purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 21 school governors from three rural schools who were deemed information-rich to participate in the study. Findings: The study found that the post-apartheid school governing body concept, which is an innovation in education management and leadership, encourages and promotes productive parents' involvement in education of their children. Originality/value: The findings have lessons and implications for school management and leadership in the developing countries because as an Africa adage says, "it takes a whole village to bring up a child".