International talk-show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey on Friday opened a R12-million school in Kokstad on Friday amid much fanfare and celebration.
”The journey began five years ago. We were so impressed with the teachers and the principal that we thought your school was not good enough for you,” said Winfrey at the opening.
KwaZulu-Natal minister of education Ina Cronje welcomed the opening of the school, saying that the ”design and thinking” of the school ”dovetails with our aims”.
Winfrey was welcomed with dancing and singing.
She said Oprah’s Angel Network, her charitable foundation, had used its imagination when designing and building the school. Before the school was built, the children had been housed in mobile classrooms.
”This is an example of what school in South Africa can become,” said Winfrey.
The school, which caters for almost 1 000 pupils, was built with local materials and designed with many sustainable features, such as harvesting rainwater for toilets.
The school will also be used as a community centre for Kokstad’s Shayamoya township.
It was originally a farm school that was bulldozed. The KwaZulu-Natal education department stepped in and re-established the school in mobile classrooms before Oprah’s Angel Network began building the new school.
The school opening comes as authorities at the exclusive private academy for poor girls that Winfrey opened in January dismissed complaints it is too strict.
Winfrey opened her Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg to great fanfare on January 2. The lavish, $40-million school was the fulfilment of a promise she made to Nelson Mandela six years ago and aims to give 152 girls from deprived background a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.
”This school is a symbol of leadership for Africa,” Winfrey said at the time.
But some parents have complained to local media that academy’s rules — which allow girls only one visit a month and limits their cellphone calls and consumption of junk food — are too restrictive.
”It was a nightmare,” foster parent Frances Mans told the News24 website. ”We had only two hours to see my child. Surely this isn’t a prison or an institution?”
However, John Samuel, chief operating officer for the academy, dismissed the complaints and said the unhappy parents had raised their concerns with Winfrey over the phone. ”They have been in discussions with Ms Winfrey and they say they are satisfied that the girls are not being treated unfairly,” he said. — Sapa, Sapa-AP