Woman Who Scored 100% in OWLAG Assessment Shares Why She Was Not Selected

• Naledi Amanda Dube shared her 2009 rejection letter from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls alongside a perfect writing score
• The Johannesburg creative received a 15 out of 15 on her writing assignment but did not advance past the background-check phase of selection
• Her post sparked an outpouring of responses from other South African women who also went through the OWLAG application process

A Johannesburg woman turned a decades-old rejection letter into a moment of reflection after news broke about the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) transitioning out of its current residential model.

Naledi Amanda Dube, a creative and qualified Traditional Health and Faith Practitioner from Johannesburg, posted the letter on 12 October 2026. In the image, a 2009 letter from OWLAG confirmed she had reached the second phase of recruitment but was not selected to continue to phase three. What made the post striking was a single detail visible in the document: a writing assignment score of 15 out of 15, a perfect mark.

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Perfect score, still rejected

Dube was raised by a single mother and was Head Girl at her school, and she came through OWLAG's interview and assessment stages, performing at the top of her class. Despite scoring 100% on the writing assignment, she did not pass the school's background-check process. She shared that the girl who was ultimately selected in her place went on to become a qualified attorney, and expressed genuine pride in that outcome.

After OWLAG, Dube attended the National School of the Arts, which she described as her dream school. Her post framed the rejection not as failure but as redirection, noting that not being chosen did not erase the fact that her potential had been recognised.

OWLAG, which was founded following a 2002 conversation between Oprah Winfrey and the late President Nelson Mandela, opened its campus in Henley on Klip, Gauteng, in January 2007. It has since educated over 1,000 young women. In July 2026, Winfrey announced that the physical campus would close at the end of the 2027 academic year, with the property handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education as per the original agreement. The foundation is shifting to a broader national scholarship programme.

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Mzansi responds to Naledi's story

South Africans flooded the comments on the Facebook page with their own OWLAG stories:

@Mmantimotse Ratlhogo shared:

"I remember going there with my niece. She was writing a test, then there was this guy wearing a political party shirt, and he asked if I had a connection. I said no. He said even if she passes the test, the people who are going to make it are already on the list. But she got another bursary, and she is now a qualified CA at the age of 24."

@Thembi Phakathi wrote:

"I remember this so well! Around 2006, I was in grade 6, and I was also one of the girls who got rejected. That was honestly my first heartbreak ever!"

@Mmathapelo Nthapie Modise said:

"The pain of getting that letter. I was elected when I was in Grade 6, but unfortunately I was not selected. Sometimes I wonder what went wrong."

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@Nthabiseng Tsholofelo Losaba added:

"My daughter should see this. In her case, she made it through the very final stages of the selection process. She's still an A student at the National School of the Arts and still making us proud."

@Naledi Sebotsane commented:

"I still also have this letter. I applied back in 2011. I don't think I ever processed the rejection because oftentimes I picture how life would have turned out if only I was among the girls who made it in."

@Keneuoe Morolong said:

"I got rejected on the 1st interview. My heart, Yoh!"

See Naledi's original post and her 2009 rejection letter here.

More on Oprah Winfrey’s leadership academy

• Briefly News previously reported on OWLAG alumna Dr Lindiwe Tsope, who celebrated earning her PhD in Philosophy after attending Oprah Winfrey’s South African school.
• An OWLAG alumna received a special gift from billionaire Oprah Winfrey, with their heartwarming interaction drawing praise from social media users.
• Oprah Winfrey is expanding OWLAG’s scholarship programme to reach more South African girls as the academy prepares to move away from its residential school model.

Source: Briefly News