The producers of Shaka ILembe have been a roller-coaster ride for the past six months, trying to get all the details of the historic king and his surroundings correctly as humanly possible.
Sunday World was invited to a behind-the-scenes visit at the Cradle of Humankind on Thursday, where the shooting of the Zulu and Mthethwa households took place. Executive producer and actress in the drama series Nomzamo Mbatha took Sunday World on a Zulu compound tour, explaining the details.
The huts were built by hut-makers found in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to try replicate the original designs of the 17th century “indlu”. The beehive-like structures are made from wooden poles that are forced to bend towards the centre and are then wrapped together. The hut would then be covered in dried grass and the floors with cow dung.
She took Sunday World into a bigger hut that housed King Misuzulu when he visited the set, she said they placed a lion skin to show genuine treatment of the king as it will be shown for Shaka on the drama.
“The spears you see on the hut walls are made by people who still design authentic spears. We wanted to remain very much true to the times and true to the people,” she said.
Mbatha said she has been locked into her character so many times that she would need to mediate to “get her off until the next shoot. We have had a lot of spiritual encounters. I remember even with Senzo Radebe, who plays Senzangakhona, during a coronation scene we had a bee that was there representing Bab’ Mdletshe. The crew was in tears and Senzo said it himself that it wasn’t him but something else took over.
“Even with me before they call action, I always ask for true guidance from the person I am portraying,” said Mbatha. She believes it was through this spiritual connection with the characters that they always strived to perfect the show.
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