The entertainment industry can be a dog-eat-dog world, but these famous women are doing everything they can to help their peers up the ladder.
In celebration of Women’s Month, we are paying tribute to local stars who are all about girl power.
They have not only given their time to help others but also provided financial and emotional support to their fellow women.
From rescuing up-and-coming stars from the casting couch to raiding their closets to help new ‘it’ girls look decent on the red carpet, these A-listers are proof that, when women support each other, incredible things happen.
Basetsana Kumalo is a role model for many women in South Africa. She went from beauty queen to media mogul several years after winning the Miss South Africa pageant in 1994 thanks to hard work and determination. Bassie, as family and friends call her, then used her success to help many other women climb the entertainment ladder. She also offered support on a personal level to countless women. One of those women is Pearl Thusi. The actress revealed in a heartfelt Instagram post last year that Bassie has been like a mother to her. “She gave me my first laptop. Helped me bury my grandmother. Held my hand as I became a mother. Taught me lessons about being a lady. Scolded me when I faltered,” she wrote.
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Former reality star Babalwa Mneno was recently accused of being a ‘pimp’ who sold women to rich men at nightclubs. She slammed allegations, which were made by a Twitter user, saying she has never pimped a fly. One of the people who came to her defence was Denise Zimba. The TV presenter said Dineo was not the type of women to
bring her fellow females down and, on the contrary, has saved women from having to sleep their way to the top. “We would go to parties and she would be like, ‘you guys are here every day, what’s the situation?’. We were literally like, ‘we’re just tryna make it in the industry, we just finished art school, no one is tryna hear us unless we sleep with
people and that’s not what we want to do’,” she said during an interview on MTV’s Behind the Story. “She’s like, ‘what do you need? I’ll give you hair. When you come to the party, call me, you will come stay in my VIP’… She is the most genuine person I have ever met in my life and I will always stand by her,” she added.
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Local actress Terry Pheto has made a name for herself abroad and the actress is determined to see other women shine just as brightly on the international scale. The award-winning actress has looked out for some of her peers when they were still making a name for themselves. “Terry was like a big sister to me, and she gave me like a whole lot of clothes… I was then able to attend events comfortably with the clothes that she had given me,” Pearl Thusi told Trending SA.
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Kelly Khumalo has been hustling in the music industry for many years and knows how tough the road to success can be. But Kelly is determined to help unsigned female artists achieve their dreams. The singer joined the South African Artists Development Association (SAADA) in 2015 and vowed to help. Kelly said that the initiative, which was started by Arthur Mafokate, “SAADA is a great initiative, giving established artists a platform to advise and mentor up-and-coming acts. I am available to do that. I am willing to help people coming into the industry with advice and my expertise where I can.” To all up-and-coming artists and to Arthur I am saying, ‘I am here’. I am just a phone call away,” she told Drum magazine.
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