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The first beauty queen in a free South Africa

Beauty queen turned media entrepreneur Basetsana Kumalo was the first woman to be crowned Miss South Africa after her country's first democratic elections.

Basetsana Kumalo is easily one of South Africa’s most recognisable celebrity figures. She shot to fame as Miss South Africa in 1994, just months after Nelson Mandela was elected president. Basetsana was the first black contestant to win the contest in the country's new "freedom era" and, by default, became the face of South Africa’s new democracy. After this Basetsana hosted one of the country's top lifestyle programmes and today she's a successful media entrepreneur. Her book is called: Bassie, My Journey of Hope.

Presenter: Andile Masuku
Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Picture: Basetsana Kumalo during the SA Style Awards in Johannesburg.
Credit: Gallo Images / Contributor

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Jan 2020 10:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 11 Jan 2020 23:32GMT
  • Sun 12 Jan 2020 09:32GMT
  • Sun 12 Jan 2020 10:32GMT

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