Bassie

Basetsana Kumalo shot to fame as Miss South Africa in 1994 and soon became the face of South Africa’s new democracy. As the first black presenter of the glamorous lifestyle TV show Top Billing, she travelled the world and interviewed legends like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson and Luther Vandross. After a successful career in front of the camera, Bassie’s drive and ambition took her into the world of business and entrepreneurship. The street savvy that her entrepreneurial mother bestowed on her as a child stood her in good stead as she built a media empire. In Bassie – My Journey of Hope, Bassie recounts her life journey, including her relationships with mentors like Nelson Mandela. She also shares the secrets of her success and all the lessons she’s learnt along the way. She opens up about the pressures of her high-profile marriage to Romeo Kumalo and their heartbreaking struggle to have a family. She talks honestly about motherhood and maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and unpacks how she pays it forward through mentoring young people she has met along the way.Bassie also describes the legal battles she has had to wage in order to protect her name and her brand over the years. She gives a chilling account of the stalker who has harassed her for decades, and the spurious ‘sex-tape’ allegation that rocked her family and almost destroyed her career. Bassie’s enthusiasm, humour and hope infuses every page of her memoir, making it an intimate, inspiring and entertaining account of a remarkable life.

Basetsana Kumalo is a South African television personality, beauty-pageant title holder, businesswoman and philanthropist. She burst onto the scene in 1990 when she won the Miss Soweto and Miss Black South Africa pageants at the age of sixteen. She was crowned Miss South Africa in 1994 and went on to present the iconic lifestyle show Top Billing, before switching to the other side of the camera and building a number of successful businesses, as well as her own personal brand. She is married to businessman Romeo Kumalo, and they have three children.