| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Born | Basetsana Makgalemele |
|---|---|
| Other names | Basetsana Kumalo Bassie Kumalo |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Title(s) | Miss South Africa 1994 |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss South Africa 1994 (Winner) Miss World 1994 (1st runner-up) (Miss World Africa) |
Basetsana Kumalo (née Makgalemele; born 29 March 1974), often referred to simply as Bassie, is a South African television personality, beauty pageant titleholder, businesswoman, and philanthropist.[1] Her career began in 1990 when she was crowned as "Miss Soweto" and "Miss Black South Africa" at the age of 16. She was crowned Miss South Africa in 1994 and the same year became the first runner-up in Miss World.
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Kumalo was born in Soweto, South Africa. Her bus driver father, Philip Makgamele, died in 2003 and her school teacher mother, Beatrice Makgalemele, died in 2006. She went to Thabisang Primary School. When the Soweto schools became unstable in 1986, Kumalo was sent to school in Lenasia.
She and her two sisters and brother spent their early years helping to keep the family afloat, making sandwiches to sell at soccer matches every weekend.
Basetsana met her husband Romeo Kumalo (former broadcaster and now Vodacom executive) when she was crowned Miss Soweto. They started dating in 1997 and in 2000 Romeo proposed, eventually three times, as Kumalo had heard negative stories about marriage. The highly-publicized marriage took place at C’esta la Vie, and was attended by former President Nelson Mandela. In 2003, at the age of 30, Kumalo gave birth to her first child, a boy named Nkosinathi Gabriel Kumalo.
Before and during her reign as Miss South Africa, Kumalo dated boxer Dingaan Thobela. There were rumours that their relationship was abusive and Kumalo confirmed this in an interview with Femina magazine. In 2005, she was stalked by a fan who claimed that baby Nkosinathi was his and was married to the beauty queen.
In 2007, two weeks after she hosted Miss SA 2007/8, Kumalo went into premature labour on December 19 in her 20th week ofjhh pregnancy and miscarried.
During 1990 and 1991, Kumalo was crowned Miss Soweto at the age of 16. Kumalo left school planning to follow in her mother's footsteps as a teacher, but it was while before she was enrolled at the University of Venda to study education.Her mother entered her into Miss South Africa pageant that Kumalo went on to win.
While the reigning Miss South Africa, she started presenting the lifestyle television programme Top Billing. Kumalo formed a partnership with the show's producer, Patience Stevens. Tswelopele Productions was born with Kumalo owning a fifty-percent stake. The company is accredited by Impumelelo as one of South Africa's top 300 empowerment companies. The company's flagship brand is the Top Billing TV show, produced for SABC3. In 1999, Tswelopele merged with Union Alliance Media and listed on the JSE Securities Exchanged SA, making Kumalo one of the youngest black women directors to be part of the mainstream of the South African economy. In recent years, Top Billing's success has brought more projects to the Tswelopele brand, such as the Afrikaans magazine programme on SABC2 (Pasella), a youth TV show in SiSwati on SABC1 (Seskohona).
In 2001, Basetsane joined Gauteng Travel Academy as a director.
Kumalo is the President of the Business Women's Association of South Africa. In 2008, Kumalo became a new Tawana shareholder through a transaction with her investment company Pro Direct 189. She also sits on the boards of Unipalm Investment Holdings Vhangana Energy Resources, Tactic Group Limited,SME Financial Holdings Limited, Morongwa Investment Holdings, Seven Falls, Q2 Petroleum and PHAB Holdings.
In 2000, Kumalo launched her own clothing range under the label "Stature Ladies wear by Bassie", distributed by Ackerman’s department stores across 240 outlets throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. She has since discontinued the range.
In 2002, under the Bassie brand, Kumalo launched an eyewear range, distributed through Torga Optical (60 stores countrywide). She followed this by launching the "Bassie Red cosmetics" textrange into 100 Foschini stores nationwide, followed with the "Bassie Gold range" in 2006.
In 2004, Kumalo was voted 74th on the list of "Top 100 Great South Africans" in 2004, the only Miss South Africa in the list. In 2006, Cape Town Fashion Festival gave Kumalo the "Fashion Icon Award." Femina Magazine nominated her as one of the top 10 most glamorous women in South Africa. In 2002 and 2003, she was voted by the Sunday Times and Elle Magazine in the TV Style Awards as the most stylish female magazine/entertainment show host. In 1994, she received an honorary scholarship for Overseas Studies from Nelson Mandela.
Kumalo is also the recipient of the Annual Rapport/City Press Prestige Awards.
In 2004, Kumalo contributed to the book Inspirational Women at Work, which focuses on the new face of leadership in the country. Kumalo features on Recipes from the Heart with 36 of South Africa's most-loved celebrities.
She is the editor-at-large of the Top Billing magazine. During her reign, Kumalo was Beauty Editor for Drum Magazine.
Kumalo had a stint on Metro FM, when she hosted the Breakfast show on 10 August 2006. After three hours behind the microphone, she said she was petrified.
Her exposure was further enhanced when she was chosen to be the face of Revlon Realistic Hair Care range for both Sub-Saharan Africa and the international market. She was a Revlon spokesperson for over five years. Kumalo briefly endorsed the BriteSmile procedure by appearing on their website.
Kumalo and her husband Romeo have launched the Romeo & Basetsana Kumalo Family Foundation, which will develop children, specifically those orphaned by AIDS and other related diseases. Kumalo joined actress Salma Hayek in the bid to eradicate neonatal and maternal tetanus in the world, as spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund and nappy brand Pamper’s campaign to save more than 250 million infants by 2012.
In 2007, former first lady Graça Machel, a champion of the Each One Reach Five campaign, nominated Kumalo to be one of her five volunteers to take a public HIV test. She has also raised money for Baragwanath Children's Hospital with Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe. Kumalo volunteers with Agang Sechaba, a project that was started in 2007 by Nomsa Ntshingila, directed at giving back to the townships in which they were born.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Palesa Mofokeng |
Miss World Africa 1994 |
Succeeded by Bernelee Daniell |
| Preceded by Palesa Mofokeng |
Miss South Africa 1994 |
Succeeded by Bernelee Daniell |
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