The aim of the study is to analyse the role of democratic school governing bodies in promoting school improvement in four High Schools in Pimville and Klipspruit locations in Soweto. The study presents two arguments, one is theoretical and the other is methodological. Theoretically, there is no clear-cut relationship between democratic SGBs and school improvement. Methodologically, the relationship between SGBs and school improvement can best be understood based on a critical analysis that specifies the context within which democratic SGBs promote school improvement. Such an analysis reveals the complex nature of the school dynamics within which SGBs have to promote school improvement. The role of SGBs is mediated by various local and global socio-economic and political factors. This study articulates these factors as inputs, context, complexity and mediation. Consequently, understanding the nature of the role of SGBs in promoting school improvement requires an elaboration of the specific articulation of these factors. Input factors important for school improvement include the school infrastructure, learning and teaching material, financial resources, quality of teachers and standards of teaching methodology as well as parental participation. The context and complexity factors indicate that school improvement efforts must appreciate the conceptual and historical contexts that shape the conception and practice of school improvement. SGBs emerge out of a particular historical moment. SGBs have features of both apartheid school boards and committees and the people‘s education‘s PTSA‘s. These features render the role of SGBs precarious because it is framed within contradictory ideological discourses. Other context factors are relationships within the school, leadership and socio-economic factors. Finally, the role of SGBs is mediated by how school improvement is understood in these schools, by legislation and the complex nature of school dynamics. The study concludes that schools do not operate outside of a history of unequal provision of resources and SGBs do not exist independently of the incessant conflict among social forces. Schools operate within a social context. When narrowly focused within the school and in isolation from the historical legacy, school improvement initiatives reproduce and perfect the features that define their context.