In reply to a question by Democratic Alliance MP Gavin Davis, the department said only five of the nine provincial education departments responded to its information gathering requests.
But it emerged that of those who replied, 13 principals had been based in the North West, eight in the Western Cape, six in Northern Cape and four in Limpopo.
KwaZulu-Natal would say that 19 had been dismissed since 2011, but because Gauteng, Free State and Eastern Cape did not provide the information it was not possible to make a full comparison.
The provincial education departments of Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal did not provide details on how many schools had principals who had been dismissed.
Improper appointments
Of the provinces that did provide figures, in 2011, seven principals were dismissed; 12 in 2012; 16 in 2013; six in 2014 and 10 in 2015.
Besides saying most were fired for "disciplinary action", further details were not provided.
In January, Gauteng's education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, warned that principals from the four worst performing schools in the province would get the sack.
This was after four schools came in with a below 20% pass rate for their matriculants.
Last year, following an exposé in City Press, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said a preliminary investigation had shown that, as reported, there had been improprieties in the appointment of principals at some schools.
She said 30 out of 75 cases investigated raised suspicions.
She said Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu-Natal would have to prove to her why she should not freeze appointments.
Source News 24
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
