Background: Low teacher morale remains a concern in South African education. The principal's leadership attributes are critical in influencing teacher morale. Servant leadership attributes could contribute to raising teacher morale in the contemporary era. Aim: This study explored whether servant leadership can be used as a strategy to improve teacher morale in South African public primary schools. Setting: The research involved schools in the Tshwane South school district in the Gauteng province. Schools in South Africa are categorised into five quintiles based on the socioeconomic status of the surrounding community. A school from each of four quintiles was secured to participate in this study. Methods: A generic qualitative design was used. Individual interviews were conducted with two teachers and a principal from each of the four schools. Purposeful sampling enabled the selection of participants who worked at each school for over 3 years. The study employed thematic data analysis. Results: Eight servant leadership characteristics emerged from the study. Five corroborated with the widely recognised servant leadership characteristics namely listening, empathy, growth, stewardship and building community. Three emergent servant leadership characteristics are respect, empowerment and caring. Conclusion: There was overwhelming support for servant leadership from the 12 participants. Servant leadership attributes of listening, empathy, respect, growth, empowerment, stewardship, community building and caring were identified as key to improving teacher morale. Contribution: School principals can play a role in improving teacher morale by means of enacting servant leadership. Three new servant leadership attributes that emerged in the South African context are respect, empowerment and caring.