South Africa: Oprah Winfrey has announced the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa will close after the 2027 school year. Since opening near Johannesburg in 2007, the academy has educated over 1,000 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Considering the original agreement, the campus will be transferred to the Gauteng Department of Education. Currently, the students will complete their studies with full support, while other learners will receive scholarships to continue their education at leading schools.
Winfrey has promised that the school will continue to serve underprivileged school-girls across South Africa through an expanded scholarship program. She stated that, “The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus.”
“It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education. I’m excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began over 20 years ago,” added Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa 🇿🇦 will close after the 2027 school year.
Since opening near Johannesburg in 2007, the academy has educated more than 1,000 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. In line with the… pic.twitter.com/JL26cXCUOk
— Africa View Facts (@AfricaViewFacts) July 30, 2026
However, the located in Henley-on-Klip near Meyerton, in Gauteng, will remain tied to education. It will be returned to the Gauteng Department of Education as per the original partnership agreement. Inspired by conversations with former South African President Nelson Mandela in December 2000, Winfrey selected the site two years later and raised over $400 million including personal donations through the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.
Winfrey also said that after Nelson Mandela was out of prison and became president, Stedman (Graham) wanted to show her the country. While doing the touristy thing, she became enamoured with the women, particularly in the rural areas.
They would be the ones in the fields working and carrying the water and baskets of wood on their heads. ‘Wow’, I said to him. There seemed to be a culture of women who felt like they were under the power of patriarchy.
She was able to relate from her past experiences, growing up poor and with “barely enough to eat.” The OWLAG, since its inception in 2007, has seen over 1,000 graduates, many of whom have gone on to read at some of the world’s finest universities. The organisation insists that the “Academy’s next chapter is rooted in the same belief that inspired its founding.” While its physical presence will no longer be there to observe.