Media mogul and former Miss South Africa, Basetsana Kumalo, is a powerhouse whose journey started at the young age of 16 when she was crowned Miss Soweto and soon after, crowned Miss Black South Africa in 1990.
Four years later, Bassie - as she's affectionately known - became Miss South Africa and went on to win the first runner-up title at the Miss World pageant in 1994.
In an Instagram post, the mother-of-three took a walk down memory lane posting a 5 minute clip which shows snippets from her time at the Miss World pageant in the same year.
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In the clips, a 20-year-old Bassie is seen walking the Miss World stage in different outfits before eloquently answering a question about what she considered to be the most significant event that was occurring in South Africa at the time.
“Tell me what is the most significant change or event taking place in your country at the moment?”, one of the judges asked after she had been selected to be part of the competition’s top 5 finalists.
“Good evening ladies and gentleman, the most significant change taking place in the new South Africa is definitely the reconstruction and development program that the honourable state president, Nelson Mandela, has come up with as a concept to uplift the standard of living of all South Africans - irrespective of race, colour or creed - to be able to rectify the injustices of the past laws. Thank you,” a confident Bassie responded.
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In the caption of the post, she reminisced on how far she has come as a child who grew up in the township of Soweto.
“Miss World Pageant 1994. Once upon a time…there was a kid from eKasi Soweto….yazi mara, we were once thin, just joking…it so doesn’t matter! P.S. Thank you @drgule_ for digging this up….wow…been so emotional watching the Journey of Hope #JOH #TBT #ThrowingItBack #TheYearWas1994 ,” she wrote.
Watch the full clip below:
