Basetsana Kumalo

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 Pasella on SABC2 and the Swati youth show Seskohona on SABC1.

In 2001, Basetsane joined Gauteng Travel Academy as a director.

In 2016, she was guest judge in the final Miss South Africa 2016 beauty pageant, venue in the Carnival City´s Big Top Arena, Gauteng, South Africa. Transmitted by television networks M-Net and Mzansi Magic.

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 100 Greatest 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.