Bassie: My Journey of Hope

by Basetsana Kumalo

Basetsana Kumalo (née Makgalemele) shot to fame as a fresh-faced Miss South Africa in 1994 and soon became the face of South Africa’s new democracy. As the first black presenter of the glamorous lifestyle TV show Top Billing, she travelled the world and interviewed superstars like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Will Smith, the Bee Gees, Gloria Estefan and Luther Vandross. After a successful career in television, Bassie’s drive and ambition took her into the world of business. The street savvy that her entrepreneurial mother gave her stood her in good stead as she built a media empire. When she married the handsome businessman Romeo Kumalo in a fairytale wedding, they became South Africa’s sweethearts and ‘it’ couple. Bassie – My Journey of Hope recounts the stories of Bassie’s life as a celebrity, including her relationships with mentors like Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Graça Machel. She also shares the secrets of her success and all the lessons she’s learnt along the way, and opens up about the pressures of her high-profile marriage to Romeo, their heartbreaking struggle to have a family, and how they made sure that their loving and respectful union has lasted two decades. Bassie also talks frankly about the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of boxer Dingaan Thobela and the legal battles she had to fight to protect her name and her brand over the years. She gives her account of the stalker who harassed her for decades, and the non-existent ‘sex-tape’ allegation that rocked her family and career, leading to painful experiences of cyber-bullying. It is an intimate, inspiring and entertaining account of a remarkable life.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2020

Reviews

[Rolland Simpi Motaung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an epic journey of a shy twenty year old girl who was crowned Miss South Africa in 1993 then beautifully transformed into a formidable, audacious and confident television personality, businesswoman, wife, mother, mentor and philanthropist. This book is written with so much care, consciousness, honesty and vulnerability. It’s a tapestry of significant moments that shaped the bold woman that is Basetsana Kumalo today.

Key themes range from finding success, entrepreneurship, faith, family and mentorship. In regards to entrepreneurship she writes honestly about her business failures such bowing out gracefully from a failed property business and loosing big time on a retail venture. She draws her risk taking streak from her grandfather and parents who had various businesses in Soweto. Basetsana calls herself a serial entrepreneur however beyond her diverse portfolio of businesses in mining, travel, retail and property, media is still her first love. She writes fondly about Tswelopele Productions which she cofounded with Patience Stevens where in their twenty-five years the production company has produced shows like Top Billing and Pasella. She is also one of the creative brains at Connect Channel which produces the successful reality shows My Perfect Wedding and Date My Family

She writes a lot on faith and the power of prayer as her weapons for resilience as she bares her soul about events that almost broke her and her family. She recounts events of domestic abuse by her first boyfriend Dingaan Thobela; a persistent delusional stalker who wrote countless letters for decades and even dropped off a box with baby items at Bassie’s house after she gave birth to her first born Nathi; she shares her side on the cyber-bullying saga involving Jackie Phamotse; and also shares on the depression/grief of dealing with her seven miscarriages

Some of the major takeaways from the book are on how as human beings our main purpose is to Serve. We are born to serve not ourselves, but our families, friends and communities around us hence she is a firm believer in women empowerment and mentorship. Furthermore, the book teaches us how we need to “pay it forward”. As we progress and succeed in life (especially as black people) may we remember to also lift those coming behind us in order for all of us to shine

From face value one may assume this book is for women only, however as a black man, I personally found many lessons and inspiration between these pages. This book is for anyone looking for a bold black excellence template of an African woman. It’s for that young shy black girl in the township who thinks it’s not possible to travel the world to hang with global brands like Oprah Winfrey, dine with presidents like Nelson Mandela, and through your work inspire a generation of black female media brands like Bonang Matheba and Pearl Thusi

Overall, the book digs deep into private spaces to leave the reader teary, angry, puzzled, joyful and hopeful

Rolland Simpi Motaung ©

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, nothing beats a live book discussion with my @thebookwormersgp. We took it to the Zoom streets and after the initial glitches, we entered!!!✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿Firstly, the joy of seeing everyone log on and boom...we were together in the bookish place❤❤❤❤❤ The thought of not having these women in my life is unfathomable. Can you see the joy on my face? This moment here will be cherished forever.

And then the discussion. Almost 2 hours long. @bassiesbook #myjourneyofhope took us down memory lane. From where it all started in our childhood homes of Meadowlands, Pimville, Orlando West, Seshego, Mafikeng and Port Elizabeth. We remembered fondly the bigness of beauty pageants and ballroom dancing competitions at Bapedi Hall. The duality of our existences when we moved to private schools, on scholarships, and still slept on kitchen floors during school holidays. These memories were shared with the younger ones in the group.

We loved the book and the big bold and liveable themes. We remembered the advent of BEE and how we had to realign our visions according to the changing landscape. The imagined corner offices and big German cars. We celebrated Bassie's wins and cried with her during her losses. We discussed cyberbullying and the parents we have become.
I loved the book. Bassie's journey is a testament of faith and using that one opportunity to not only create more opportunities for yourself but, to open doors for those coming behind you. The testimonials at the end did it for me. Why wait till you are no longer on this earth to be memorialised? We must thank the people who have deposited positively into our lives now.

The epilogue was brilliantly written and heartfelt. "I’m sitting in the family room, writing this last chapter of my story. It is a comfy, sunny room that opens onto the stoep. Through the window, I can see the kids playing on the jungle gym. It’s a sight that always makes me happy, because when I was young, I dreamt of having children and building a big jungle gym for them in the garden." (from "Bassie: My Journey of Hope" by Basetsana Kumalo) #lorrainereviewsbooks #myjourneyinwords #myjourneywithwords

Review posted to my IG acc 09 May 2020

[Tshego · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a badly written book. The author should have delayed the release in order for the book to be properly edited. It's like reading someone's diary. It's not meant for a person who reads a lot. I could not finish this book.

[Charmaine Ellis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I was super excited to read this but so slow and it just seemed to me a list of the who's who that she has known. Did she not ever hang out with just normal people who have normal lives

[Sibusiso · Rating 1 out of 5]

When one reads a celebrity memoir they’re not necessarily expecting a literary master piece; this book was bought primarily because of the beautiful cover. Bassie really could have done with a ghost writer, the story was perfectly romanticized and idyllic in the way people who call themselves, ‘brands’ and the like would write. Like all stories of black women, whilst Bassie’s story is important, it is poorly told.

[Nqobile Msiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an AMAZING book! Not to mention the goosebumps I got while reading. Bassie is such a humble woman though. The positive aura you get from the book gives an indication of an amazing person she is, very inspirational.

I am at loss of words to describe the positive impact the book has. She claims she has written the book for her gran children, but I feel she has given the nation a gift. It has advises for young people and her life is not short of exemplary behaviour.

I love how pictures were used, and my does she have a beautiful family. Being a young black woman I'm inspired that I can achieve anything that I set my mind to. Yes, she's fought battles, made mistakes and cried a lot. But she never gave up, she actually sees the positive in almost all situations. Opportunities presented to her, she made sure she grabbed them by the horns.

She doesn't forget where she comes from, the people and situations that have had the most profound impact on her. On this book we get a glimpse of the tremendous events that have taken place in her life, how they impacted her and what she made out of them.

"One thing I have learnt through the year is that life comes in waves. One minute all is calm, and the next you are hit by a big suprise that knocks your feet right out under you" -Bassie

She is a real definition of 'imbokodo'!
If she did it, so can I.

[Pashnee Naidoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her journey is inspiring from beauty queen to entrepreneur. Second Black Miss South Africa and first one after apartheid made her a front row guest to the most amazing time in South Africa. Her deep relationship with Madiba, Graca and Ma Winnie was described with such love and care. Her impact on the next generation is unparalleled. Great read for all female South Africans.

[Babongile Xaba · Rating 4 out of 5]

My key take out from this #memoir is that empowered women empower others. Bassie’s huge breakthrough begins with her mom and sister Johanna entering her into beauty pageants and years down the line she (Bassie) too gives back to other women [people]. I have great admiration for people who partake in lifting others, as I strongly believe in the African proverb that “It takes a village to raise a child”. There is a lot that one resonates with on this book given where Bassie grew up. 🌺❤️🖤❤️

[Phindile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book details how Bassie, whose journey began as a beauty queen, kept progressing to become a formidable business leader in South Africa. She is also brave enough to delve into some of her personal life, like her marriage, her struggle to conceive, a seemingly dangerous and persistent stalker and the strong support system that has constantly propelled her to greater heights.

She chose a conversational writing style, a choice that can be a miss or hit. In the case of this book, I think it was a complete miss. I chose to read this book hoping to get insights into what makes one such a great businessperson who also managed to have longevity in her chosen career. However, I did not get any of that. This book reads like a PR exercise to give her side of the story of what has been said in the media. I did not find any depth or any aspirational content.

[Mogau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bassies style of writing is poor. She wrote the book like she’s giving an interview. In my opinion she would’ve done a much better job telling her story digitally, like in a documentary or film. Nonetheless her story is a great one.

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like a bragging session about how great her life is, how she's well traveled and how she's met famous people. Not a lot of life lessons or inspiration to be gleaned here.

[Rebone Lefutswe]

Finally put this baby to bed🥰🙏🏽
1.Tenacity. I miscarried very important dreams because to this destabilisation: covid era, because the world literally stopped and that crushed me, I spent too much mourning. This book revived the audacity I had for my dreams before the lockdown and ended my paralysis😅. Listen, wet wood still burns 🔥
2. I like it when a quality I admire about a person, turns out to be something they had to work on. I mentioned how her articulation and writing style made me look forward to reading her book, only to find out that she was actually challenged in that arena because of Bantu education. Which cements one of my favourite utterances, that we should always interrogate the things we’ve “bucketed” as weaknesses, because sometimes that’s where your trajectory is housed. 3. Apartheid really did a number on the older generation. A system that teaches you more of what you can’t be, than what you can be. Most are walking graves, carrying bones of dead dreams that never came to being.

It’s like constipation, holding on to poop 💩, you want to release but there’s no pathway to the opening. Just imagine being told, “you’re black, mind your dreams, you can only play at teacher/police/nurse?”
3. Business
It made me to be more open to partnerships and not be too married to 100% wnership. Calculate risks. Knock more than once.
4. Career
It affirmed one of my favourite mantras: “You don’t have to be one thing, it’s okay to be multifaceted.” 5.Love.
Damn, it made me dizzy that you can be with a man for more than 20 years and the only time they’ve ever cooked for you, is when they were courting you🙊😅 but it also affirmed that what I want exists. That you can be powerful, be equally yoked and spiritually aligned with someone powerful, thrive individually and together again, and raise an empowered tribe. And that you can really find your Prince Charming early and avoid kissing frogs😐!🤣
6. Career woman: So much of what we become, we learn from/is aided by women who have never seen corridors of an office
So it can’t be that the importance of your work is measured by your penmanship. So I think we need to redefine the term ‘career woman’.
7. Double handicap:We still have a long way to go in terms of challenging the status quo as women. You’re black and a woman so it’s a double handicap. But if we keep fighting for inclusion, we can get to a point where our children are born in an era where it’s no longer debatable for a woman to become president.
8. Environment everything: To have parents who are intentional about your upbringing, to be affirmed as a child, can give you a strong sense of self belief that will set you apart and take you places. Look at how she courageously entered those “male dominated” industries. This is the little bit I could share. I appreciate that we can find mentors in books. I’m more convinced that you get called to read a book, I’ve shelved this book since I received it as a birthday gift in 2019, started and dropped it and only to read it to completion now. Indeed, the teacher meets you when you’re ready 🙏🏽🙏🏽.
Timing!!!🤞🏽 Synchronicity! 🙏🏽

[Nthabeleng Letlela · Rating 5 out of 5]

My initial thought of the book was that it is only for ladies but as I carried on to read the book I realized that it is for every living human being because there is something for everyone in it. I loved each chapter and found myself running to my husband each time I would read the book to share what I have read and intriguing. Eventually I said to him I think you must read the book. Thanks Bassie for sharing your experience with me through your book.

[Tambu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bassie insight into her journey of hope is both inspiring and grounding. It reminds us that one can still reach their goals whilst maintaining their core values of ethics, integrity and conviction. However, Bassie could have told a more balanced reflection on her personal relationships, marriage. Instead it was too romanticized and idyllic. The hard imperfect bits she raised she didn't delve into. Bassie needed to be more vulnerable in her reflections.

[Athalia Maluleke · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The world needs strong women. Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved. Women who live bravely, both tender and fierce. Women of indomitable will.”
– Amy Tenney

It was such an honour to meet a powerful and inspirational woman like you. Thank you for sharing your life journey with us. Basetsana Khumalo ❤️

[Bassie_bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought me to tears countless times. Her life story is so intereting and I got to learn alot of things I didn't know and got light on some issues she faced I never knew about. This was such a heartfelt read and it's just amazing as she is. She went it hard on this one. Loved it1

[Pelonomi Mulan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is fairly written. Some parts of the book sounds like a fairy tale that doesn’t really exist but all in all I enjoyed reading it.

[Zenizole Gqada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly enjoyed it. So many takeaways from the book. Thank you, Bassie.

[MARANG]

Best book ever

[Olwethu Nqevu]

Great read, very good to hear her perspective on things we only heard of from the media.

Good lessons shared around her relationship with the Mandela and Machel families.

Well written book.

[Tash · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Totally enjoyed reading her life story but she could have done way better with a ghost writer. I was not a big fan of the style of writing - it was too basic for a voracious reader.

[Lungi Manzini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow what an amazing story about our queen. Her life changed over night and she had to grow up very quickly. I love the influence of her mother on her - it shaped her into being one of the most successful business woman. Such an honest book - I felt all the emotions. Thank you for sharing @Bassie

[Kananelo Sebati · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is well written, but in each chapter I felt robbed of the detail. The story often felt sanitized and I never felt like we truly get the insight an autobiography should give. She is inspirational and has had a really charmed life despite the challenges.

[janvier rugira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life experience

Bassie opens up her personal life experience as a road map and inspiration of authenticity of life. Highs and lows and un-edited

[Lwazi Bangani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had just came back from a meeting, awaiting a lift home when I stumbled across this title that speaks about a journey of hope.

What was meant to be a brief review inorder to make a buy or pass decision, then ended up being an hour's read that intrigued me with all sort of questions about what Bassie's full story entailed.

It is a book for someone looking to experience a graceful journey from Soweto to Sandton with some potholes in the form of grief and pain that have propelled a young woman to great heights.

Ultimately, this book is a great buy that encompasses both painful and joyous revelations about Basetsana's life.

[Katlego · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book literally in 2 days, I honestly bought this book with very high hopes but it was just like any other motivational book, Bassie takes us through her life and how she got into the spotlight, I feel there was more that could have been given or done, I personally feel I needed more or maybe I just had high expectations however it’s just a good read I was hoping I’d eventually get something but meh 😔

[Ntombi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was reading this book I thought it's another memor of a celebrity, little did I know that it will shape how I think and do things. Most importantly how I treat my son, I've learnt not to be a pushy mother and want straight As from him, but allow him to go to school and do what he has to do and be a child. I learnt to love and believe in my dreams. Anything is possible when you believe. Thank you ausi Bassie for sharing your life with us

[Thato · Rating 3 out of 5]

She has an amazing story, one of overcoming personal adversity too. However, it was badly written (in my opinion at least). The use of a ghostwriter could have made a great difference?. Do not expect an “I come from nothing” story it’s rather a, I grabbed an opportunity with both hands sort of narrative. How one opportunity opens up doors to more if used effectively. Sad to learn of the abuse and miscarriages she lived through.

[Tumi_R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book revealed a side of Basetsana that is very inspirational. She seems to have a big heart and that makes her special. More than anything, I am inspired by her humanity and humility as well as her love for people and seeing them grow and realize their full potential. I loved the “Pay it forward” chapter. That really dug deep into me. I will carry the principle of “daughters of my heart”.