COUNTRY OF BIRTH

South Africa

INDUSTRY

Beauty, Media, Clothing and Cosmetics

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

Basetsana Kumalo is a South African beauty pageant titleholder, businesswoman, television personality and philanthropist. Kumalo is well-known for being the second black Miss South Africa.

EARLY CAREER

Born in March 1974, Basestsana Julia ‘Bassie’ Kumalo (neè Makgalemele) came from a modest family. Kumalo and her siblings made and sold sandwiches at sports events on weekends to help the family make ends meet. She was schooled in Soweto until the schools there became unstable, and then continued her schooling in Lenasia, a predominately Indian area.

BEAUTY PAGEANTS

In 1990 and 1991 Kumalo was crowned as Miss Soweto. After the apartheid ended in South Africa, Kumalo was crowned as the second black Miss South Africa. She went on to take part in the Miss World pageant where she achieved 1st runner-up.

Delivering the Keynote address this afternoon at the Wits School of Governance at the 2017 MACE National Congress. Topic: The Power of Self Innovation- making a difference by navigating yourself through difficult times. Part of my talk focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution...there's a new status quo and a whole new level of complexity in the global society. The way we do business is changing, studies show that some of the current jobs and even professions could be rendered obsolete by robotics and computing within the next 20 years. As a business you have to innovate, as an individual you have to self-innovate. Thank you to Prof. Adam Habib - Vice Chancellor and Principal of Wits for the wonderful welcome. #MACE2017

A post shared by Basetsana Kumalo (@basetsanakumalo) on Nov 29, 2017 at 6:35am PST

BUSINESS

During her reign as Miss South Africa Kumalo presented Top Billing, a popular South African lifestyle program. After forming a partnership with the producer of the show, Tswelopele Productions was launched with Kumalo owning half of the company. Through her business dealings, Kumalo became one of the youngest black female directors in South Africa’s mainstream economy. She is also the president of the Business Women’s Association of South Africa and sits on several prominent boards. In 2000 Kumalo launched a clothing brand called Bassie which is distributed throughout Africa, an eye ware range alongside Torga Optical, and a cosmetics range called Bassie Red.

PERSONAL LIFE

Kumalo is married to former broadcaster and Vodacom executive Romeo Kumalo and has two sons, Nkosinathi Gabriel and uShaka Kgositsile Emmanuel. ADDITIONAL FACTS • Worked with Salma Hayek towards eradicating tetanus in the world • Took a public HIV test in the Each One Reach Five campaign • Co-founder of the Romeo & Basetsana Kumalo Family Foundation, supporting AIDS orphans • Achieved a spot on the 100 Greatest South Africans list in 2004 • Nominated as one of the top 10 most glamorous South African women • Featured as one of South Africa’s most-loved celebrities by Recipes from the Heart