Three KZN families threaten to interdict release of Shaka iLembe'

Three KZN families threaten to interdict release of Shaka iLembe'Screening of the Shaka iLembe' series may be blocked, as the families who claim to be involved are accusing producers of empty promises.

by Nokuthula Ngcobo

19-10-2022 16:41

in Entertainment

Screening of the Shaka iLembe' series may be blocked, as the families who claim to be involved are accusing producers of empty promises. Images via Twitter @dstv

Three KwaZulu-Natal families - Mhlongos, Mthethwas and Mbathas - are accusing Shaka iLembe producer Angus Gibson and Bomb Productions of stealing their intellectual property.

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According to Sunday World, the families are threatening to interdict the screening of the hotly-anticipated drama series in 2023.

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HISTORIANS CLAIM SHAKA ILEMBE' WAS STOLEN FROM THEM Mhlathuze Mhlongo, who is a historian and spokesperson for the Mhlongo, alleged that they were approached by the producers of Shaka iLembe in 2019 who were seeking information about King Shaka kaSenzangakhona and his mother, Queen Nandi.

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We were picked up from our homes and taken to Ballito where we stayed for about three days. During those days, we were filmed and we were narrating each and every detail about King Shaka and Queen Nandi. We even took them to all the locations where Shaka lived as a teenager.

We also showed them the river where Nandi bathed every morning and all the places she liked. We know this information because both King Shaka and his mother, Queen Nandi, were from the Mhlongo clan, Mhlongo said.

ALSO READ: Shaka Ilembe': Meet the cast of the upcoming drama series

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According to Mhlongo, the agreement with Gibson was that each family involved would get a certain percentage of the royalties from the series.

He further alleged that Gibson did not ever get back to them about the royalties and neither did he and his crew return to KZN to shoot.

Instead, he says they were contacted to travel to Johannesburg, where the team was shooting, to burn impepho (incense) to awaken the spirits of King Shaka and Queen Nandi .

We refused and told them that it is against our culture, and that Nandi and Shaka's place of birth is in KwaZulu-Natal, not in Johannesburg, Mhlongo explained.

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WE WILL INTERDICT THEM IF NEEDS BE' Another historian, Phila Mthethwa, of the Mthethwa family, claims they never heard back from the production company after refusing to burn impepho in Johannesburg.

We phoned and we texted them [drama series producers] but they ignored us, they actually excluded us from the production, he said.

Mthethwa also threatened to interdict the screening of Shaka iLembe.

Therefore, we regard this as theft of intellectual property, and we will not let them use it anywhere until this issue is resolved. We will interdict them if needs be.

Bomb Productions had not responded to questions The South African website sent to them at the time of publishing.

ABOUT SHAKA ILEMBE' The star-studded series is headlined by Nomzamo Mbatha, who plays Queen Nandi, the revered mother of Shaka.

The two key actors playing Shaka are Lemogang Tsipa (adult king) and newcomer Ntando Zondi (young king).

Set in the 1700s, Shaka iLembe tells the story of the making of the iconic African king, Sgidi Shaka kaSenzangakhona with iterations from his early childhood through to adulthood.

Zulu king MisiZulu Zulu has given his blessing to the production of series Shaka iLembe. Image via Twitter @ZiyandaNgcobo

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LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/entertainment/breaking-kzn-fam...
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