Six years in the making, with a promotional campaign that spanned almost a year, the bold new prime time drama series Shaka iLembe launched on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) on Sunday 18 June to rave reviews. With viewers applauding the powerful casting, performances, symbolism, and authenticity of the production, the star-studded series is poised to take over Sunday night television for the next three months.

Now, in an exciting development driven by Sunday’s massive response to the first episode, Mzansi Magic announced that it will make the first episode only available on Mzansi Wethu channel 163 on Wednesday 21 June at 21:30, so DStv Access subscribers may also sample the series and experience Shaka iLembe for themselves. 

Speaking on this decision, MultiChoice CEO for General Entertainment Nomsa Philiso said that the first episode sets the scene for the series, and screening it on Mzansi Wethu gives these valued audiences the opportunity to judge the show themselves and determine whether they want to upgrade to enjoy the rest of the season.

“We knew that Shaka iLembe would deliver a beautiful, memorable viewing experience, thanks to the tireless work of the dynamic cast and crew assembled by Bomb Productions. But the scale of the response has been tremendous. It is for this reason that we believe it is beneficial to both our customers, and to our business, to create an opportunity for DStv Access consumers to make an informed subscription decision.”

She went on to say, “We’ve always known that our decision to invest deeply in Shaka iLembe was not just the correct step, but a necessary one to truly celebrate the phenomenal power of African history. This series builds from episode to episode, layering in storyline, characters, history, and entertainment as it progresses. We are therefore very pleased that we can offer the first episode of Shaka iLembe more broadly.”

To accommodate the screening of episode 1 of Shaka iLembe on Mzansi Wethu means that we will be moving some scheduled programmes into new slots for the coming week. Please see below for a list of channel changes this week.

Series originally scheduled in this slot will start later than expected:
- The Wife: Behind the Veil season 1 starts Wednesday 21 June at 22:30
- The Station will start on Friday 30 June at 20:30

For more information, visit the Shaka iLembe show page or follow #ShakaiLembeMzansi on social media. Shaka iLembe is headline sponsored by Telkom. Associate sponsors are Grant’s Whisky and LottoStar, while tactical sponsors are Santam and Toyota SA.