Oprah’s SA school to close after 20 years of successes (and scandals)
Despite academic success and 1 000 graduates, Oprah Winfrey’s elite boarding school will transition to a national scholarship programme.
American media mogul Oprah Winfrey has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in Gauteng will close its boarding campus at the end of the 2027 academic year to transition into a nationwide scholarship programme.
According to an official academy statement issued on 29 July 2026, the multi-million-rand campus – located south of Johannesburg – will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education to administer, as “envisioned in the original partnership agreement”.
Current students will receive uninterrupted financial and academic support, with those unable to finish at the school being moved to other top-tier institutions at Winfrey’s expense.
What is next for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy?
Winfrey, 72, explained that her mission was never simply to build a single campus but to invest in the limitless potential of young women. Under the new model, an expanded scholarship programme will support academically talented girls at leading schools across the country, effectively doubling the number of beneficiaries.
Since opening in January 2007, the school has seen over 1 000 graduates, with a 2024 study revealing that 99% of surveyed alumnae proceeded to higher education.
The school’s performance remains exceptional, as noted in the Class of 2025’s recent results. The cohort achieved a 100% Bachelor Degree pass rate under the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum.
Past individual milestones include alumna Lindiwe Tsope, who became the first academy graduate to be awarded a PhD in May 2021.
Controversies and scandals over the years
Despite these academic triumphs, OWLAG has faced a series of highly publicised scandals.
Just 10 months after the star-studded opening in 2007, a school matron, Virginia Tiny Makopo, was arrested on charges of sexually and physically abusing several students. Winfrey flew to South Africa to personally apologise to parents and fired the school’s headmistress, Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane.
In October 2010, Simpson, a magistrate at the Sebokeng magistrates court, acquitted Makopo of all 14 charges due to contradictions in witness testimonies, which deeply disappointed Winfrey.
The billionaire was later sued by Mzamane for defamation, a suit that was settled out of court. The school was hit by a second scandal in March 2009 when seven girls were suspended or expelled for sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment on campus.
In February 2011, police launched an investigation after the dead body of a newborn baby was found in the bag of a 17-year-old student. The pupil had given birth on campus before being taken to a hospital for excessive bleeding.
Over its two decades, the academy has also drawn criticism for its high $40-million (about R730-million) construction cost and luxurious facilities, which critics argued was impractical for an impoverished region.
As the school prepares to hand its keys to the government, Winfrey’s legacy will transition from a single physical sanctuary to a broader scholarship network.