Basetsana Julia "Bassie" Kumalo (née Makgalemele; born 29 March 1974) is a South African television personality, beauty pageant titleholder, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Her career began in 1990 when she was crowned Miss Soweto and Miss Black South Africa at the age of 16. She was crowned Miss South Africa in 1994 and in the same year became the first runner-up in Miss World. Early life and education Kumalo was born in Soweto, South Africa. She and her two sisters and brother spent their early years helping to keep the family afloat, making sandwiches to sell at soccer matches every weekend. She attended Thabisang Primary School in Orlando West. When Soweto was engulfed by student unrest in 1986 she was then sent to Trinity Secondary School where she completed her matric. She was then enrolled for tertiary education at the University of Venda, and majored in an Education. Personal life Before and during her reign as Miss South Africa, Kumalo dated boxer Dingaan Thobela. She met her husband Romeo Kumalo, a Vodacom executive and former broadcaster, when she was crowned Miss Soweto. They started dating in 1997 and married in 2000. In 2005 Kumalo gave birth to their first child, a boy named Nkosinathi Gabriel. A second son, uShaka Kgositsile Emmanuel, was born in 2012. Kumalo and her husband Romeo have launched the Romeo & Basetsana Kumalo Family Foundation, which will develop children, specifically those orphaned by AIDS and other related diseases. In 2009 the foundation received the Inyathelo Philanthropy Merit Award. Kumalo joined actress Salma Hayek in the bid to eradicate neonatal and maternal tetanus in the world, as spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund and nappy brand Pamper’s campaign to save more than 250 million infants by 2012. Career Pageantry 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. Television While 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.