When South Africa became a democratic country after the 27 April 1994, a new school Curriculum was introduced, governed by the South African Schools Act, Act No. 84 of 1996 (SASA). The basic aim of SASA was to transform education by creating and managing a new national school system, and to democratise schooling through an ideal education system of good management and governance. This paper is based on my PhD study and derives its arguments from qualitative data collected in the Butterworth District of the Eastern Cape Province (ECP) in South Africa, and literature review. The main question this study addresses is: What are the micropolitics of school governing bodies (SGBs) with special focus on the relationships between the SGBs and principals in ‘disadvantaged’ communities of the Butterworth District? There are five sub-questions which seek to address the main question. The theoretical framework that underpins this study is the interpretivist theory, looking through the micropolitical lens. The findings of this study which used the case study design, from six purposively selected schools, reveal that micropolitics of SGBs is not transformative for deep democracy. Poor school conditions, ignorance of roles, lack of or insufficient capacity building of SGBs and poor infrastructure laid soft ground for the interplay of micropolitics. Literature also reveals that conflict is pervasive in schools in South Africa and else where in the world, and micropolitics is necessarily a study of conflict; micropolitics is part of a darker side of institutional life; and micropolitics is inevitably entwined with leadership and power. The conflict that emanates from the interplay of micropolitics has a negative impact on the school and the community it serves, and violates the democratic principles and values of the country’s constitution, undermines the philosophy of Ubuntu which underpins the country’s curriculum, and by so doing defeats the aims of the SASA. School governing bodies in disadvantaged communities are more idealistic dream than realistic.