Zarinah Hassan (born 23 September 1978), commonly known as Zari Hassan, alias Zari the Boss Lady, is a Ugandan socialite, musician,

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, who resides in South Africa, where she runs businesses. She is the heir and CEO of ''Brooklyn City College'' (BCC), a South African based diverse, progressive educational institute which she co-founded with her late husband Ivan Ssemwanga. BCC maintains the headquarters campus in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, with satellite campuses in

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, Nelspruit,

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly s ...

and

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West province, South Africa (549,575 in 2011 and 626,522 in the 2016 census). In 20 ...

Biography

Hassan returned to her native Uganda in 2000, after two years in the United Kingdom. Afterwards she moved to South Africa where she met and married Ivan Semwanga. They had 3 children. They divorced in 2013 after Hassan accused Semwanga of physically abusing her. In May 2017, Semwanga had a massive stroke and was admitted to Steve Biko Academic Hospital. He died on 25 May 2017. He was buried in Uganda. Following the funeral, Hassan returned to South Africa to manage her businesses and some of her late husband's enterprises. She has two children with Tanzanian artist

Diamond Platnumz Nasibu Abdul Juma Issack (born 2 October 1989), popularly known by his stage name Diamond Platnumz, is a Tanzanian bongo flava recording artist, dancer, philanthropist and a businessman of Ha heritage. He is the founder and CEO of WCB Wasafi R ...

References

External links

Who Zarinah Hassan has dated before.Video of "Oli Wange" by Zari Hassan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Zari 1978 births Living people Ugandan businesspeople Ugandan business executives Ugandan women business executives People from Jinja District People from Eastern Region, Uganda Ugandan chief executives Ugandan women chief executives Businesspeople in education