by Thinus Ferreira
While the first season had its debut in June 2023 and the second season started in June 2025, the third season of Shaka iLembe will start in early 2027 on Mzansi Magic, with the M-Net packaged channel on DStv that has released some first-look images of final season.
Bomb Productions produces Shaka iLembe for M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel, with the third and final season in what was always planned to be a 3-season drama series, will chronicle the assassination of the increasingly erratic Zulu king King Shaka kaSenzangakhona in 1828.
Shaka iLembe is executive produced by Desiree Markgraaff, Nomzamo Mbatha and Angus Gibson, with Nomzamo Mbatha, who also appears on screen as Queen Nandi.
Not providing any explanation or wanting to draw attention to it, StudioCanal, Canal+, MultiChoice and M-Net have suddenly altered the title of Shaka iLembe to "Shaka iLembe: Zulu King" to make it more palatable for potential buyers as StudioCanal is launching international sales of the series for global buyers under the "better" title.
The third and final season will continue after a 4 years gap since the end of the second season with Shaka's Zulu kingdom now dominant across Southern Africa, yet facing pressure from the colonial British expansion, as well as other European influences.
While season 3's episode count is not yet confirmed, Shaka iLembe will likely end with 12 episodes, since both the first and second seasons had 12 episodes each.
The third season includes a look at the emerging Basotho Kingdom of Moshoeshoe, King Faku's Mpondo Kingdom and the settlement of Port Natal.
According to a press release from Mzansi Magic it has "Queen Nandi and Shaka's politically formidable aunt, Mkabayi, at its emotional centre".
Added to the Shaka iLembe third season are Lerato Mvelase as Queen Mpikase, Aiden Scott as Henry Francis Fynn, a British trader who becomes close
to Shaka, as well as Conrad Kemp playing Lt. Francis Farewell and Wonder Ndlovu as Prince Mpande.
In a supplied quote in which M-Net's Mzansi Magic didn't bother to fix a typo on her surname, Desireé Markgraaff, says "Making Shaka iLembe has been a journey
of more than 12 years for the Bomb creative team".
"Our ambition was to tell this story with the scale, drama and epic sweep of world-class mainstream storytelling, while portraying the Africa we know and love with the dignity, complexity and humanity it deserves."
Nomzamo Mbatha says "Shaka iLembe is proof of what African storytelling can achieve when it's given the room to be ambitious, told at scale, and shared from the inside out".
"As an executive producer, I'm most proud of the series' success at home and abroad, and of
its real contribution to our creative economy. Portraying Queen Nandi, a woman whose courage helped build a kingdom and whose values still shape our understanding of the modern Zulu woman, has been an honour and a career highlight."
Anna Marsh, StudioCanal CEO and Canal+ chief content officer, says StudioCanal's "continued goal is to bring local stories to the world stage".
"The Shaka iLembe franchise is a monumental achievement in television and one which must be celebrated for its deeply universal human portrayal of legendary figures. A groundbreaking production."
Nomsa Philiso, Canal+ Africa vice president, content, says "The international launch of Shaka iLembe marks an important moment not only for this extraordinary franchise, but for African storytelling as a whole".
"MultiChoice has spent decades investing in local stories because we believe cultural authenticity
and global appeal are not opposing ideas; they are mutually reinforcing."
"Shaka iLembe demonstrates that the most powerful stories are often the most specific, and we are delighted to see this proudly African production find new audiences around the world."
