🚨 BREAKING NEWS | OPRAH WINFREY TO CLOSE HER JOHANNESBURG GIRLS' ACADEMY, GAUTENG GOVERNMENT TO TAKE OVER

Mamelodi News | Gauteng

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG), one of South Africa's most prestigious schools for academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, will close in its current form at the end of the 2027 academic year.

The announcement marks the end of a remarkable chapter that began in 2007, when Oprah fulfilled a vision she developed with the late former President Nelson Mandela to provide world-class education to young South African women.

Under the original partnership agreement, the academy's campus in Henley on Klip, Gauteng, will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education, which will continue operating the school.

Rather than managing a single boarding school, Oprah says she will now invest in an expanded scholarship programme that is expected to support even more girls across South Africa than the current model.

"The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women," Oprah said in a statement announcing the transition.

The academy has educated more than 1,000 young women since opening its doors and has produced graduates who have gone on to study at leading universities in South Africa and abroad.

Importantly, the transition will not affect current learners. All enrolled students will complete their education with full academic and financial support, while the Gauteng Department of Education prepares to assume responsibility for the campus after 2027.

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