Background: The Covid-19 forced South African government to institute lockdown, the economy and the lives of people were much affected. Schools were closed down, reopening of schools turned to be ‘tug of war’ among the stakeholders. Aim: The paper analyse the possible effects the lockdown might have on the basic education system if leadership roles were not displayed by the Ministry of Education for opening schools. Method: The paper employs the desktop research. Moreover, the various stakeholders of the education such as parents, teachers were interacted with. The data was collected from 15 January, 2021 to 15 February, 2021. Results: The paper reveals that Covid-19 provides crisis as well as an opportunity depends on the individual leadership styles. Schools were closed down in the mid Match. The reopening turns to be tug of war between the various stakeholders. To reopen, there was mixed reactions, some felt it was too early, others felt it was time to push the academic work to finish. Several meetings and briefing were organised but to no avail. However, the South African government took decision reopen schools and complete the academic year. The repercussions and consequences could have been very detrimental on the country, if leadership were not to be decisive. The achievements of millennium development goals (MDG) could have been eroded within a space of time by the pandemic as well as the efforts the government is making to achieve the National Development Plan (NDP), 2030. The possible socio-economic effects could have been high level of pregnancy, high drop rate from school, and demotivation by the learners in academic work. More so, bulky backlog in the basic education as well as at the university levels could have been created. The way forward for the stakeholders to avoid the tug of war that ensued among the stakeholders should be that the government might engage on the final year students in their training colleges and universities. The unemployed teachers in the system, the services of the capable and agile retired teachers as well as the teachers who work in the informal sector economy to keep the education system not to be grounded. Conclusion: Overall, the paper reveals that the ability for leadership to take risk and implement policies determine whether the economy will expand or contract during this Covid-19 era.