Queen of Soweto — Jessica Taylor

Basetsana Makgalemele was born in a township called Soweto. She was her parents’ third daughter. They named her Basetsana, which means “girls”. In Tswana culture, calling your daughter that means your next child will be a boy. This actually happened. Her parents’ next child was a boy. Her parents, big sisters and younger brother all called her Bassie for short.

When she was a child, Bassie was very shy. She liked to sing and dance in her room on her own.

One day at school netball practice, the coach told two girls to pick teams. Bassie stood on the edge of the field hoping someone would say, “Come play with us!” But nobody wanted her on their team.

Little did they know, Bassie would become one of the most popular girls in the country.