Basetsana Julia "Bassie" Khumalo (née Makgalemele; born 29 March 1974)[1] is a South African television personality, beauty pageant titleholder, businesswoman, and philanthropist.
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.
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.
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.
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 Pasella on SABC2 and the Swati youth show Seskohona on SABC1.
[17] 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.
[18] Kumalo also volunteered 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.
[19] 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.
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.
[24] 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.
[29] In October 2021, she was honoured with an Iconic Award by Tastic rice for being the most influential women in the media space in Cape Town.