Oprah Winfrey to close South Africa girls' academy, expand scholarship programme

Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa will close its residential campus at the end of the 2027 academic year, marking the end of an era for the school.

The campus will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education, as planned under the original partnership agreement. Winfrey will instead expand her support through a nationwide scholarship programme for academically talented girls.

A spokesperson said the new programme is expected to double the number of young women who benefit from Winfrey's education initiative by funding places at leading schools across South Africa.

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

The academy was inspired by discussions between Winfrey and former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2000. It opened in 2007 for girls in Grades 8 to 12 and has produced 870 graduates, all of whom have gone on to higher education.

Winfrey said the programme's mission remains unchanged: to help young women transform their lives through education, with the expanded scholarship scheme allowing the initiative to reach even more students across the country.