Basetsana Kumalo

Basetsana Kumalo , maiden name Makgalemele (born March 29, 1974 in Soweto ), is a South African entrepreneur and millionaire and the first black woman to be voted " Miss South Africa ".

Life

Basetsana Kumalo was born in an informal settlement in the township of Soweto , the daughter of a bus driver and a teacher . As a child, she worked as a street vendor - as is often the case in South African townships - selling, for example, “bread, lollipops and hard-boiled eggs”, an experience that Kumalo, in addition to her parents' support, sees as the basis of her current business success. Since teaching for women was one of the few accepted professions at the time, she began studying to become a teacher. Her mother registered her for beauty pageants - so she was first elected "Miss Soweto", then "Miss Black South Africa". In 1994, the year of the first democratic election, she was finally named "Miss South Africa". This success allowed her to work as a TV presenter on a show about celebrities. With money borrowed and earned through her successes, she eventually acquired half of the company that produced the show. The company merged in 1999 with the media group Union Alliance.

As a result, she developed an extensive entrepreneurial activity: she brings out sunglasses, a clothing line and cosmetics under her name. Today she holds extensive stakes in real estate and is a member of various supervisory boards. She has been involved in coal mines with two partners since 2005. She is also President of the Association of South African Businesswomen and supports charities. She is no longer involved in the operational business of her company.

The deeply religious Basetsana Kumalo profited greatly from the policy of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment , with which the ANC government specifically supports the formerly disadvantaged, especially black population groups. "Companies were in fact forced to involve blacks in the equity capital and to fill management positions with them." According to journalist Claudia Bröll, Basetsana Kumalo embodies the "dream of the success of black entrepreneurs in South Africa."

literature

• Claudia Bröll: With mines and Mandela. FAZ from 23./24. May 2009 (full-page report about Kumalo, online )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Claudia Bröll as in literature, FAZ from 23./24. May, page C3, Career and Opportunity
2. ^ Claudia Bröll as in literature, FAZ from 23./24. May, page C3, Career and Opportunity, print only, caption