Babes Wodumo (born July 26, 1994) is a 29-year-old South African singer and choreographer with an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Wodumo, whose real name is Bongekile Mildred Simelane, launched her professional music career in 2016 following the release of her breakthrough song “Wololo” in the same year. She is one of the most nominated South African artists for industry awards.
Babes Wodumo’s Bio
- AGE: 29 Years Old
- BIRTHDAY: July 26, 1994
- BIRTHPLACE: Lamontville, Chatsworth, South Africa
- BIRTH SIGN: Leo
- ETHNICITY: Black
- FATHER: Bishop Welcome Simelane
- MOTHER: Thokozile Simelane
- SIBLINGS: Nonduh Simelane
Babes Wodumo is 29 Years Old
Babes Wondumo is 29 years old as she was born on July 26, 1994, to a Mount Zion Faith Mission pastor and his wife, Bishop Welcome, and Thokozile Simelane. Babes Wondumo’s birth name is given as Bongekile Simelane. As a child, Babes Wondumo had all the markings of a superstar.
Babes grew up loving sports. She also learned how to dance, act, and even play soccer at a young age. Her athletic skills made it possible for her to take up dancing as a profession later in life.
Her nickname, “Babe Wodumo,” was given to her by different people. The “Wodumo” moniker was given to her by her friends, who were impressed that she had so many talents. Meanwhile, the name “Babes” surprisingly came from her pastor father, who claimed that his daughter’s eyes reminded him so much of a member of a local music group called “The Babes.”
Although her parents were not in support of it, Babes ditched their plans for her to become a social worker and ventured into the South African music industry instead.
Babes Wodumo’s Net Worth is Estimated at $5 Million
The Gqom Queen’s net worth is valued at $5 million, most of which comes from the West Inc company, as well as her musical career, which generates money in the form of shows, appearance fees, and touring revenue.
Major Sources of Babes Wodumo’s Net Worth:
Music Career
As you probably know by now, the brilliant artist has been in the music industry since the age of 20. She blew up after recording her first song titled ‘Desha’ in 2014. The song, which was produced by Sir Bubzin, marked Babes Wodumo’s grand entrance onto the Mzansi music scene.
Babes Wodumo made major strides in her career within just a few years of her arrival, like being featured on the soundtrack of the 2018 blockbuster film, ‘Black Panther’ for a song titled ‘Redemption’.
She also bagged lots of prestigious awards, including Best International Act: Africa at the BET Awards in 2017, Best Kwaito Album at the Metro FM Music Awards, Best Female Artist of the Year at the South African Music Awards, and Metro FM Music Awards for Song of the Year, (Wololo) in 2017, as well as the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Soundtrack (Black Panther) in 2019.
Acting
Babes Wodumo also had somewhat of an acting career. Towards the end of 2021, she and her then-fiance, Mampintsha, signed a contract to jointly star in a reality TV show called ‘Uthando Lodumo’.
The show, which aired exclusively on Showmax in June 2022, followed the celebrity couple as they made their wedding preparations.
Dance Academy
Finally, the Gqom Queen owns and oversees West Ink Dance Academy, a choreographic dance conservatory that was created in 2016. Babes Wodumo has piloted choreography and coached dances for several artists.
She, in turn, has amassed a sizable fan base for both her dance and her music. To name a few, the vocalist has collaborated with big artists like Dj Tira, Big Nuz, Nikki Williams, and Kendrick Lamar. According to Flatprofile, Babes Wodumo’s latest net worth is about 17 million in rands.
There are also reports that the singer inherited a sizable part of her late husband’s wealth. It was said that Babes Wodumo married the executive record producer under a community of property contract that allowed her to inherit his money upon his passing. At the time of his death, Mampintsha (who passed away from a stroke in December 2022) was worth $500,000.
A recap of Babes Wodumo’s Net Worth Sources:
- Music
- Acting
- Dance Academy
The South African Star Became Famous in Her Early Twenties
Anyone who knows Babes Wodumo knows she has had a tremendous music career with lots of ups and downs and is, without a doubt, one of Mzansi’s most recognizable musicians. Babes Wodumo rose to fame in her early twenties but began her career a little earlier. In 2013, when she was just 19 years old, she decided to work in the music industry.
Babes Wodumo interned at Mampintsha’s company, West Ink Records. Not long after that, she and the record producer began a relationship of sorts, and many believe this was closely linked to her career expansion. Anyways, Babes Wodumo released her debut Babes Wodumo grabbed music enthusiasts across the nation with her unique brand of music, and South Africans crowned her Gqom queen.
By the end of 2016, Babes Wodumo was earning as much as R100 000 per gig, according to News24. Her biggest hit songs include, ‘Umngan’Wam’ and ‘Wololo’ in 2016, ‘Gandaganda’ in 2017, ‘Angisona’ in 2017, and ‘eLamont’ in 2018, among many others.
Reports that Babes Wodumo’s Net Worth Might be on a Rapid Decline Abound Online
We cannot fully talk about Babes Wondumo’s net worth without chronicling the singer’s steep decline from the top in recent years. Babes Wodumo, while reflecting on the zenith of her career with MacG on ‘Podcast and Chill’, revealed that at one point, scheduling her for a single performance cost R150 000. She went on to say that some weekends she would have eight jobs in three days.
She later admitted that she regretted squandering her fortune on frivolous purchases. The Gqom star fondly recalled the times when she would have multiple gigs per weekend, the most being 8.
If you multiply those appearances by R150,000, you might begin to have an inkling of just how much money Babes Wondumo had been making at the time. The same is not the case now, sadly. Babes Wodumo’s career, or rather, what’s left of it, is dangling by a thread.
In 2021, it was said that she had reduced her pricing by more than half and was getting only about R60 000 for shows. On the bright side, Babe Wodumo’s net worth seems to have remained untouched by her poor life decisions so far.
She has achieved more impressive feats in a mere handful of years than a lot of her industry colleagues who have been in the business for multiple decades.
Babes Wodumo’s Lifestyle Definitely Reflected Her Huge Net Worth
Babes Wodumo definitely knows not just how to make money but apparently how to spend it as well. The hitmaker’s spending habits were once gossip fodder after it was revealed that she was only spending her money on wigs, alcohol and just living a flamboyant lifestyle.
The Lamontville native also owns several expensive automobiles, ranging from the elite Mercedes Benz to the less expensive Audi brand. Babes’ Mercedes baby was a 2019 V-Class model that reportedly cost the singer over R1,300,000. Her Audi S7, on the other hand, was worth the hefty sum of R1,100,000 at the time of its purchase.
