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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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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. This programme was first broadcast on 11th January 2020.

Presenter: Andile Masuku
Producer: Deiniol Buxton

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

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 Sep 2021 22:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 18 Sep 2021 08:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Sep 2021 08:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Sep 2021 22:32GMT

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