Oprah Winfrey to Close Her South Africa Girls’ School After Nearly 20 Years

Oprah Winfrey has announced that her celebrated girls’ academy in South Africa will close at the end of the 2027 academic year, bringing an end to nearly two decades of educating academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG), located south of Johannesburg, opened in 2007 after Winfrey was inspired by conversations with former South African President Nelson Mandela about the power of educating girls. Mandela attended the academy’s opening ceremony and became closely associated with the institution’s founding vision.

Winfrey’s charitable foundation has operated and funded the academy since its establishment, but the transfer of the campus to South Africa’s Gauteng provincial education authorities was part of the original arrangement. The academy says the transition will therefore see the expansive campus eventually handed over to the provincial education department rather than simply abandoned.

Winfrey has also made clear that the closure does not mean the end of her education project in South Africa. Instead, she plans to expand a scholarship programme supporting academically talented girls across the country, allowing the initiative to reach more young women rather than concentrating its resources on one boarding school.

Since opening its doors, the academy has educated hundreds of girls, many of whom have gone on to universities in South Africa and abroad. The school has consequently become one of Winfrey’s most visible philanthropic projects and a symbol of her long-standing interest in girls’ education.

Only months after the academy opened in 2007, several students made allegations of sexual and physical abuse against a dormitory matron. South African police investigated the allegations, while the academy brought in investigators from South Africa and the United States. Winfrey travelled to South Africa, met with the girls and publicly apologised to their parents, describing the allegations as one of the most devastating experiences of her life.

The accused matron, Tiny Virginia Makopo, faced multiple charges involving alleged indecent assault and assault. She denied the allegations and was eventually acquitted, meaning the accusations did not result in a criminal conviction.

Another controversy emerged in 2011 when police investigated after the body of a newborn was discovered in a student’s bag. Authorities said the student had reportedly given birth and was receiving treatment for heavy bleeding. No allegation was established that the incident involved trafficking or that the school was operating as part of a trafficking network.

There have also been online claims alleging that girls at the academy were involved in human trafficking, particularly as renewed attention has been drawn to the school following Winfrey’s announcement. However, I could not find credible evidence establishing that the academy was involved in trafficking, and such claims should not be presented as fact.

The controversies nevertheless remain part of the institution’s history, particularly because they emerged so soon after its highly publicised opening and placed enormous scrutiny on a school that had been created to provide vulnerable girls with safety, opportunity and education.

Despite those difficult moments, the academy continued operating for almost two decades and produced a large number of graduates who went on to higher education and professional careers. The current closure plan is being presented not as a response to those earlier controversies, but as a planned transition of the campus and a change in how Winfrey’s educational philanthropy will reach girls across South Africa.

The final students will complete their education during the remaining academic cycles, while Winfrey’s foundation plans to ensure that students who are still enrolled when the transition occurs continue receiving financial and educational support.