Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 12, 2005
Gwen Gill

The talk-show supremo, who was in Johannesburg to present a motivational seminar yesterday, said she was particularly impressed by South African children.

"I've never met a child here who doesn't understand that education is their ticket to success.

"I'm not lucky, but blessed," Winfrey said. "I've got where I have through education."

Winfrey - who is building a R175-million premier girls' school in Gauteng - had local fans mesmerised at her Live your Best Life seminar at the Sandton Convention and Exhibition Centre.

On her second visit to South Africa in six months, the 51-year-old looked more glamorous and slimmer than ever.

It was the first Live your Best Life seminar outside the US and fans had snapped up every ticket within 48 hours of them going on sale, paying R480 for the privilege, and travelling from Zimbabwe, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth to be at the event.

By 9am, hundreds of Oprah addicts were already at the centre, with a few who hadn't managed to buy tickets brandishing placards to try and buy their way in at all costs.

One of the lucky ones was Corine Goldschmeding, who had been prepared to pay R1000 to get inside, but was spotted by Oprah aide Lisa Halliday and given a free seat.

VIPs in the audience included Judy Sexwale, wife of businessman Tokyo; Gauteng first lady Wendy Luhabe and Deputy Minister of Health Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

While here Winfrey donated R160000 to the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

As she charmed and inspired guests, she said she empathised with many South African children because she, too, had grown up poor and had been raised by her grandmother.

She emphasised that it is up to women to constantly look to evolve to the next level and fulfil their potential.

She confessed that she'd never wanted anything as much, before or since, as to appear in the film The Colour Purple.

"I auditioned and was told, 'Don't call us, we'll call you.'

"But when nothing happened for two months I went to a fat farm to lose weight. I decided to surrender the dream to be in the film to God, and I prayed and cried.

"Then as I went back into the health spa a woman came out, wearing a purple coat, and said, 'Stephen Spielberg's on the phone!' He said I had to be in California the next morning and not to lose any weight."

Of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls she has started on about 9ha of land at Henley-on-Klip in Gauteng, she said: "I want to create the premier school for girls in the world - one I'd like to have gone to.

"We've got to the stage of choosing the fabrics [for the uniforms] and they're what I'd happily have in my own home.

Winfrey delighted the mostly female crowd with how she had in the past started dieting every Monday.

"I thought I'd always be fat and you become what you believe."

But last year she vowed she wouldn't be a fat 50-year-old and quit dieting and decided instead to eat healthily.

The talk show host said it was vital that people spoke openly about HIV/Aids.

She said Madiba had told her he believed Princess Diana had done a lot of good by being seen hugging Aids babies, and celebrity attention in the US had changed the way people viewed the pandemic.

She urged South African celebrities to do the same and the media to make sure they covered the issue.

Oprah said she was glad she'd been poor and was looked after by her grandmother: that was one reason she empathised so much with SA children, who were often in the same boat.

Winfrey believes poverty can be eradicated in our lifetime - it exists only because the world is not outraged about it.

She said she'd met everyone in the world she wanted to meet - John Travolta and Tom Cruise among them - but she preferred "real people". (Well, perhaps she might want to meet the new Pope, but reckons that could be arranged with little effort.)

She called herself a "praying woman" and said she never lent money to friends as it caused problems.

She left South Africa last night, after six days in which she visited children in Soweto and Pietermaritzburg.

Lucky patrons of a steakhouse chain in the KwaZulu-Natal city were surprised to see her tucking in to a meal at one of its restaurants this week, where she had taken a group of local children she supports financially.

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