The second season of Shaka iLembe, the critically acclaimed South African drama series, officially premiered on June 15, 2025.

This season continues the narrative of Shaka’s extraordinary rise, with returning stars including Nomzamo Mbatha as Queen Nandi and Senzo Radebe as King Senzangakhona. The launch event was held at Monte Casino in Johannesburg and attended by the show’s leading cast and creatives, including Lemogang Tsipa, who plays Shaka.

The show’s stellar first season debuted on June 18, 2023 and broke viewership records with 3.6 million viewers in its opening week. The show is produced by Bomb! Productions for Mzansi Magic, under the MultiChoice banner, and has become South Africa’s most expensive and most awarded drama series to date, winning 12 SAFTAs in 2024, including Best TV Drama.

“We are delighted to present Shaka iLembe as one of our flagship productions,” said Patricia Kiconco, Head of Customer Experience and Care at MultiChoice Uganda, during the local launch, reported by The Independent. “This series brings an epic tale of courage, ambition, and triumph to our screens, capturing the essence of King Shaka Zulu’s early life.”

What distinguishes Shaka iLembe is not just its production scale, but attention to maintaining cultural authenticity through an accurate, historically-informed portrayal of Zulu language and attire.

Shaka iLembe is a show in Zulu, the most spoken mother tongue in South Africa, and reflects the vibrancy of the language’s proverbs and idioms in addition to straightforward dialogue. The series also visually captures the past with incredible attention to costume accuracy. Only King Shaka is shown wearing leopard skin, adhering to Zulu customs where such attire symbolized royalty—a deliberate rejection of distorted colonial portrayals. Historians and advisors, including the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, were consulted to ensure authenticity across both seasons, reports The Conversation.

South Africa’s Chargé d’Affaires to Uganda, Sebola N. Solly, praised MultiChoice for its cultural commitment at the premiere event, saying, “It is great to see Africans tell their own stories about themselves for the continent and the rest of the world.” The Independent reports that he urged Ugandan filmmakers to take inspiration from the series and use film as a medium to promote their own heritage.

With a 12-week run ahead, the second season of Shaka iLembe promises not only high drama and visual grandeur, but also meaningful storytelling that celebrates and preserves African identity. As Patricia Kiconco of MultiChoice Uganda put it at the premiere: “We believe in not waiting for someone else to write our history—we tell it ourselves.”

Season 2 of Shaka iLembe airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. on Pearl Magic Prime (DStv channel 148; GOtv channel 303).