Basetsana Kumalo
Vital Stats
- Entrepreneur: Basetsana Kumalo
- Company: Tswelopele Group
- Website: www.basetsanakumalo.com
Basetsana Kumalo’s life changed when she won the Miss South Africa pageant as well as becoming the First Princess in the Miss World Competition. She used this platform wisely, making connections and cultivating a strong network with which she used to launch her professional career.
At only 20, her sense of righteousness helped her to negotiate the deal for Top Billing to become independent, because she believed the show should be doing better than it was. Due to her tenacity and assistance in securing the Top Billing deal she secured a 50% partnership in Top Billing’s production company, Tswelopele Productions.
Her current position is founder and CEO of Basetsana Woman Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, where she is focusing mainly in the resources, property, media, telecommunications and IT industries.
Basetsana Kumalo shares strategic advice for future female entrepreneurs:
“When you wake up each morning, you have to think of yourself as a brand and act accordingly, how well you do that will define the brand’s success. If you live the brand well, people start to believe in it and buy into it. Over the years, people have shown great confidence in the Bassie brand and that’s been really humbling.” – Basetsana Kumalo