Nearly two decades after breaking ground on a transformative educational initiative for disadvantaged young women in South Africa, media icon Oprah Winfrey has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) will close its current boarding campus at the end of the 2027 academic year, aligning with the original founding agreement for the site. The sprawling campus, located in Henley-on-Klip south of Johannesburg, will then be transferred to local Gauteng provincial education authorities.
Winfrey’s plan for transitioning the academy ensures no currently enrolled student will face disruption to their studies: any girl who has not completed her degree by the 2027 handover will receive full scholarships to continue their education at other top institutions across the country. Moving forward, Winfrey’s foundation will shift its model from operating a single campus to running a national scholarship program that supports academically gifted girls from low-income communities to attend leading South African schools.
The idea for OWLAG was first sparked in 2002, when Winfrey met with anti-apartheid icon and former South African president Nelson Mandela. Launched in 2007 at a total cost of $40 million, the boarding school was designed to unlock leadership potential for girls from underserved backgrounds. To date, more than 1,000 students have graduated from the academy, with alumni going on to build successful careers as doctors, lawyers, engineers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs and artists. One 2012 graduate, Andronica Klaas, now serves as a senior engineering lead at global tech giant Meta, who credits the academy with reshaping her worldview. “Every corner of the campus was filled with so much love and care and detail,” Klaas said in comments shared on Winfrey’s Oprah Daily platform. “OWLAG convinced me that preparation, character and purpose mattered more than where I came from.”
Long circulating online speculation has linked the campus closure to mismanagement, but Nico Olwagen, a public relations consultant for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, has denied these claims. For Winfrey, the transition is not an end to her mission, but an expansion of it. “The dream was never simply to build a school,” the 72-year-old media mogul explained in an official statement. “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 more than 20 years ago.”
While the future use of the OWLAG campus remains undecided following the handover, Gauteng’s education department has pledged to uphold the institution’s founding legacy. “We will ensure that this exceptional institution continues to serve the people of Gauteng while honouring the vision upon which it was established,” the department said in a statement.
Throughout its 20-year history, OWLAG has not been without controversy. When the academy first opened, some critics questioned its lavish facilities, which included two theaters, a yoga studio and a beauty salon, arguing that the $40 million investment could have served a larger number of students if distributed across existing public institutions. Just months after opening, the academy also faced scandal when a group of students accused a former staff member of abuse; the staff member was ultimately cleared of all charges. Currently, 281 students are enrolled at the campus.