Bridget Masinga (born 26 February 1981) is a South African actress, television and radio personality, fashion model and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. She placed 3rd in the 2002

Miss South Africa Miss South Africa is a national beauty pageant in South Africa that selects South African representatives to compete in one of the Big Four international beauty pageants Miss Universe. The Miss South Africa organisation resorted to a contempo ...

pageant and is known for her roles on the South African television shows ''

Generations A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Genera ...

'' and ''Bay of Plenty'', as well as for her work on radio. She hosts the ''Workzone 1 with Bridget Masinga'' on

Jacaranda FM Jacaranda FM, previously known as Jacaranda 94.2, is a South African radio station, broadcasting in English and Afrikaans, with a footprint that covers Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West Province and boasts a listening audience of ...

(formerly Jacaranda 94.2).

Early life

Bridget Masinga was born and raised in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

– to Elvis Jabulani Masinga and Patricia Zodwa Roberson, who divorced relatively early in her childhood. She is one of the first people to attend Addington Primary after they opened their doors to

non-white The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

. She attended Ridge Park College – the school from which she would later matriculate. She mentions, regarding her time in school, "I was a prefect in Grade 12 and part of the drama club, though I used to dodge sports all the time." Upon completion of her

matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

year, Masinga studied

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

at Boston Media House, until she had to stop studying due to

financial distress Financial distress is a term in corporate finance used to indicate a condition when promises to creditors of a company are broken or honored with difficulty. If financial distress cannot be relieved, it can lead to bankruptcy. Financial dist ...

Career

Modeling

In the year 1997, at the age of 16, Masinga signed wit
Fork Models
She has appeared in

Fashion Week and campaigns for MTN

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, Edgars

and

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

Jeans. In 2002 Masinga competed in the

pageant and placed 3rd. She cites her participation in the pageant as the start of her career as well as what would go on to be a long-standing relationship with M-Net.

Television (Post Miss South Africa Pageant)

2003 - 2005 Upon completion of the

reality show, Masinga relocated to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, where she continued to work with

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

. Although she unsuccessfully auditioned to present the first season of ''

Idols South Africa ''Idols'' was a television show on the South African television network Mzansi Magic, and previously on M-Net, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a contest to determine the best young singer in South Africa. The gener ...

''; the producer of the televised

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

contest (Gavin Wratten, who also happened to have directed the Miss South Africa pageant) told Masinga about a future project by the name of Go! - a

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

-focused television channel that was set to be broadcast on DStv. Masinga stayed with the channel from 2003 up until 2006. While at Go! she hosted two music formatted shows: Beatlab (2003-2005) and Selekta (2004-2005). 2006 After appearing on Go! for a number of years, in 2006 Masinga landed the role of Zoe on the iconic South African television series ''

'' (which aired weekday nights on

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

1). In the same year she co-presented ''Temptation SA'', alongside James Lennox (a game show which aired on

and was directed, again, by Gavin Wratten). She also made a cameo appearance on

e.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Cape Town. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the ...

’s ''

Backstage Backstage may refer to: * Backstage (theatre), the areas of a theatre that are not part of the house or stage Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1917 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1919 film), a silent film starri ...

'' - another hit South African television series. 2007 – 2008 In 2007, Masinga signed on to star as Theresa Nyawose on the television series, ''Bay of Plenty'' - which aired on

1 in 2008. The series ran for one season and went on to do well for the channel; with the show being awarded

Ensemble Cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

at the 2008

South African Film and Television Awards The South African Film and Television Awards (sometimes referred to as the Golden Horns; often simply called the SAFTAs) is an annual South African awards ceremony hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), to honour creative exce ...

(SAFTAS). 2009 - 2012 After appearing on ''Bay of Plenty'' - in 2009, Masinga began hosting ''The

Movie Show'' (directed b
Elana Afrika – Bredenkamp
it aired as a weekly special on the M-Net Movies Channel). In the same year Masinga, simultaneously joined both the SuperSport team as well as M-Net’s ''All Access''; continuing to work with both channels well into 2012. Between the years 2011 and 2012 – Masinga hosted the 1st and 2nd season of ''The Road to Miss SA'' (a reality television series that was aired on Mzansi Magic.) 2013 Masinga landed a featured role in the first season of Mzansi Magic’s '' Rockville'' (in 2013) - where she played a young prostitute. In the same year, she also made a cameo appearance in ''Isibaya'' (another series which aired on Mzansi Magic) as an attorney, Ms. Masinga. 2015 In 2015 – Masinga competed (as one of the ten

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

contestants) on the eighth season, of (the popular South African version of the televised

Ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and te ...

competition) ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' - which aired Friday nights on

Radio

2005 – 2010 In the year 2005 (at the age of 24) Masinga joined

YFM YFM (99.2 FM) is a "Youth" radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1997, the station is formatted to mostly play urban music genres such as Kwaito, Hip Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular m ...

, hosting ''The Elevator'' – a graveyard slot that was broadcast on weekday mornings before the breakfast show. In 2007, she began presenting ''Bridget on Y'' – which was broadcast on weekends from 12PM – 3PM. She describes her weekend slot, "''Bridget on Y'' was a music driven, magazine formatted, lifestyle show; where Saturdays were dedicated to entertainment and Sundays were about aspirational content." Regarding the show, Masinga cites the feature ''Young, Black and Fabulous'' (during which she would introduce listeners to young dynamic black South Africans) as a favourite. In 2010, she made the decision to leave

– explaining that the desire to focus on furthering her studies, and developing a production company, led to the decision. 2011 Masinga returned to radio in 2011, presenting revolving slots (weekend mornings from 4AM – 7AM and Sunday evenings from 9PM – 12PM) on

947 Year 947 (Roman numerals, CMXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – A Principality of Hungary, Hungarian army led by Grand Prince Taksony of Hungary, Taksony campaign ...

(formerly 94.7 Highveld Stereo). 2015 From August 2015 - August 2016, Masinga hosted the ''Workzone 1 with Bridget Masinga'' on

(formerly Jacaranda 94.2).

Production company and further education

After the shooting for '' Rockville'' and ''Isibaya'' was completed, Masinga made the decision to take a hiatus from all work obligations, in order to dedicate her time towards the development of her production house – Bridget Productions. The company is aimed at producing

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

content that focuses on telling African stories (work that is written, produced and directed by African talents) and since its registration in 2012, has worked with the likes of

Mandla Mandela Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, National Assembly of South Africa, MP (born 21 June 1974) is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He graduated from Rhodes University with a degree in Politics in 20 ...

. Masinga is also pursuing a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

;

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, Admin and Development from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

(UNISA).

Other notable work

Masinga appeared in the 2006 inaugural

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

: ''The Naked Issue'' – targeted at raising awareness about the

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

pandemic in South Africa. Thereafter in 2009, she was named the celebrity face of Organic Root Stimulator (for which she remain the ambassador until 2012). In 2011 she was also announced as the ambassador for

Vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by British multinational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, ...

B3 lotion (2011 - 2012). Aside from her work on television and radio, Masinga is also a Master of Ceremonies; having hosted the week-long Democratic Celebrations of the South African

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

, which took place in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

(2007), the

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

SA Launch and the Design Indaba (2010), the Africa Fashion International (AFI) Awards and the

Hisense Hisense Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province. Television sets are its main product, and it has been the largest TV manufacturer in China by market ...

Africa Launch (2011), the Grand Design Expo and the

(SAFTAS) (2012). She has also worked with

Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...

, Total and

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...

Philanthropy

Masinga has worked with non–profit organisations such as the

Nelson Mandela Children's Fund The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) is a charitable organisation founded by Nelson Mandela, based in South Africa. Its mission is to help individuals from birth to age 22.Joburg Child Welfare and the Reach for a Dream Foundation. In 2012, she founded the Jane’s Daughters Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at enhancing the lives of female children through

mentorship Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

programmes, as well as financial and other lifestyle aids. The organisation is mainly focused on child-headed and single parent households, participating in collaborations with the

Children’s Home and Joburg Child Welfare.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masinga, Bridget 1981 births Living people