Winfrey's winners graduate

To the world, Oprah Winfrey is an influential businesswoman who, according to Forbes magazine, has a net worth of $2.7-billion.

But, to the 72 girls from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, at Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg, she is a mother whom they can contact 24/7 - by phone, SMS or e-mail.

Winfrey, 57, was in South Africa at the weekend for the graduation ceremony for her 72 students, who achieved a 100% pass rate in last year's Senior National Certificate examinations and shared 188 distinctions between them.

Bongeka Zuma, named best student overall, with six distinctions, said Winfrey had been "very accessible" to her and her classmates, which made studying at the academy easy.

"We interact with Ma Oprah a lot. She is a very supportive person," Zuma said.

"I applied to two schools and didn't get accepted by the other one. So I e-mailed her and told her how disappointed I was. She sent an e-mail back telling me I should not be disappointed and that the other school was probably not my destination.

"She is a very supportive person. I can always e-mail her and I can get a reply, even in her busiest schedule."