The American talk show host Oprah Winfrey fulfilled a longstanding dream - and a promise to Nelson Mandela - today with the opening of a $40 million school for poor South African girls that she has paid for herself.

The former President was invited to the opening of the lavish Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in the town of Henly-on-Klip, about 40 miles outside Johannesburg.

The school, set over 22 acres, boasts state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library and theatre as well a beauty salon. It resembles more a luxury hotel than a school.

Opening on January 5, it offers 150 girls whose families live on only a couple of dollars a day a "chance in life", said Winfrey, who has been listed for three years by Forbes magazine as the richest black person on the planet.

"I wanted to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim that light," she told a press conference.

She said she also hoped that the school would begin to make a wider difference to the nation, struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid, over time.

"Girls who are educated are less likely to get HIV/Aids and in this country which has such a pandemic, we have to begin to change the pandemic."

Winfrey referred to her own poor childhood and said she was grateful that she at least had a good education.

"I was a poor girl who grew up with my grandmother, like so many of these girls, with no water and electricity," she said.

The celebrity, who has never had children, said that the school had "fulfilled a dream" and referred to the students as "my girls" or "dream girls", who in turn call her "mum Oprah".

The singers Tina Turner and Mariah Carey, as well as actors Sidney Poitier and Chris Tucker and director Spike Lee, joined the opening ceremony.

Each one has been asked to donate a book to the school which Winfrey said she wanted to make the "best in the world".

In a statement today, Mr Mandela paid tribute to Winfrey, who as well as hosting America's highest-rating talk show is also a magazine publisher, book critic and Oscar-nominated actress.

"This is a lady that has, despite her own disadvantaged background, become one of the benefactors of the disadvantaged throughout the world," Mr Mandela said.

Up to 3,500 girls applied for one of the 152 places at the academy. To qualify, they had to show academic and leadership qualities and comes from a household with an annual income of no more than 5,000 rand ($713).

The school will eventually accommodate 450 girls.

Winfrey interviewed all of the 500 finalists herself and has personally chosen the uniforms, china and the beds and linen.

A minority of critics have accused the school of being elitist and unnecessarily luxurious.

Winfrey rejected the claims, saying: "If you are surrounded by beautiful things and wonderful teachers who inspire you, that beauty brings out the beauty in you."

The South African education system is struggling under the burden of poverty and years of apartheid. State-funded schools are overcrowded and lack basic facilities like books. They are also plagued by gang violence and drugs and have a high rate of teenage pregnancy.

Private schools with high standards and facilities exist but are still dominated by the white minority.

Winfrey, who has donated millions of dollars to educate poor children in the United States through her Oprah Winfrey Scholars Programe, said that she planned a second school for boys and girls in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

She said: "I love these girls with every part of my being. I didn't know you could feel this way about other people's children."

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