LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jun

13

2025

Shaka iLembe: finally, a TV series on the Zulu king that’s true to language and culture

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SHAKA Zulu is one of the most storied figures in South African history. Believed to have been born around 1787, the man also known as uShaka kaSenzangakhona is regarded as the founder of the country’s Zulu nation. Shaka has been the subject of numerous novels, poems, films and TV series. Many have offered distorted versions of Zulu culture. But the award-winning 2023 drama series Shaka iLembe seemed different. It was lauded by both critics and viewers for its epic storytelling and cultural authenticity. A second season of the series is now set to air. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ald8QvDEgmE As scholars of isiZulu (the…

Jun

06

2025

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Global tourism industry embraces traditional African eco-living and wellness practices

LIFESTYLE

“IT was like earth medicine.” That’s how Sarah Chen, a traveller from Singapore, described her three-day wellness retreat in the Nyanga mountains of eastern Zimbabwe. Guided by a local ‘n’anga’ (traditional healer), she lay on river rocks while birdsong echoed through the forest, according to a memoir she shared on LinkedIn. Steam from crushed ‘mufandichimuka’ leaves (from a medicinal tree) opened her lungs. There were no spa robes or ambient playlists—just the rhythms of nature and rituals passed down for generations. “You don’t have to experience wellness on a massage table,” she wrote. “It’s how you inhabit your body. For…

May

31

2025

By The African Mirror

Cinema’s revolutionary voice falls silent: Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, Africa’s only Palme d’Or Winner, dies at 91

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE lights have dimmed forever on one of Africa's greatest cinematic voices as Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, the legendary Algerian filmmaker who shattered barriers and rewrote the rules of global cinema, died at his home in Algiers at age 91. In a moment of poetic symmetry that would have suited one of his own films, Lakhdar-Hamina's death on May 23 coincided with a special Cannes Classics screening of his masterpiece Chronicles of the Years of Fire—the film that made him the first and only African director to claim the festival's coveted Palme d'Or nearly five decades ago. From Desert Warrior to Cinema's…

May

31

2025

By TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU

Mbare Art Space: a colonial beer hall in Zimbabwe has become a vibrant arts centre

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IN southern Africa, townships were built as segregated urban zones for black people. They were created under colonial and white minority rule policies that controlled movement, confined opportunity, and kept people apart. I grew up in a different historic black township in Zimbabwe, but Mbare was the first of its kind. It holds a unique place in the nation’s imagination. Mbare was originally named Harare. But in 1982, that name was reassigned to the capital city that houses it. In its storied past, it was once the heartbeat of black urban life. At its centre is Rufaro Stadium, where Bob…

May

31

2025

By RICK DE VILLIERS

Waiting for Godot has been translated into Afrikaans: what took so long

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AT last, the most infamous latecomer in all of literature has arrived – not in the flesh, but in South Africa’s Afrikaans language. Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s best-known drama, Waiting for Godot, now also lives as Ons Wag vir Godot. Published and staged in 2024, the translation was inspired by the official centenary of Afrikaans in 2025. As a Beckett scholar, I think it’s worth asking why Afrikaans is so late on the scene – and why it matters. Godot in many tongues First written in French, En attendant Godot was published in 1952 and debuted on stage the next…

May

27

2025

By The African Mirror

Avhatakali Afrika Is Fifty!

HEADLINES, LITERATURE, EDITORS CHOICE

Avhatakali Netshisaulu was born on June 03, 1975. He grew up into a bubbly, intelligent, witty and focused individual. He was a goal driven young man, and in whatever he did, whether it was running the long distance races, his academic work, or his businesses, he excelled. When he was brutally taken away from us, the pain was immense. It was a pain shared by a shocked nation that rallied to assist and comfort us. What pained us even more was that in losing him, we also lost, at a public level, who he really was. He became the posterboy…

May

30

2025

By JOVIAL RANTAO

A Tribute to Chicago Mike: The Voice That Moved a Continent

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE rhythm has quieted. The stage lights have dimmed. And somewhere across the vast continent of Africa, from the townships of South Africa to the bustling streets of Lagos, from the highlands of Kenya to the markets of Morocco, hearts are heavy with the loss of a voice that brought pure joy to millions. Michael "Chicago Mike" Sumler wasn't just a hype man - he was a bridge between cultures, a conductor of celebration, and the embodiment of music's power to unite people across oceans and continents. For forty years, his voice carried the infectious energy of Kool & the…

May

31

2025

By HANNAH J. DAWSON

Young men on South Africa’s urban margins: new book follows their lives over 10 years

LITERATURE

SOUTH Africa’s young people, aged 15 to 34, who make up more than 50% of the country’s working-age population, bear a disproportionate burden of unemployment. They have done so for more than a decade. Of this group, those aged 15-24 face the highest barriers to the job market, according to data from Statistics South Africa. The majority of these young people live in the townships and informal settlements. A new book, Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins, examines how young people in Zandspruit, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Johannesburg, make a life. Anthropologist Hannah Dawson…

May

28

2025

By ADEDIRAN KAYODE ADEMIJU-BEPO

Seven Doors: sweeping Nigerian Netflix series masters the art of storytelling

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FROM the opening credits of the new Netflix six-part series Seven Doors, the viewer is poised for a captivating cinematic experience. An array of sculptures dot the landscape as a montage of scenes unfolds, establishing the back story of the historical epic that is about to be played out. Femi Adebayo, the actor turned director and producer, had a huge hit in 2023 with the film Jagun Jagun (The Warrior), a historical epic love story that he produced. Now he’s back on Netflix acting in, producing and co-directing Seven Doors. As a theatre professor, author, playwright and film scholar, I…

May

28

2025

By HAMZA BENATTIA

Rock art and tomb discoveries in Morocco reveal ancient connections to the wider world

LIFESTYLE

WHEN people think of ancient burials in North Africa, they often picture Egypt’s pyramids and monuments. But new discoveries show that north-western Africa also has a deep and fascinating prehistoric past. Map of the Tangier Peninsula and main sites mentioned. H Benattia. Morocco’s Tangier Peninsula is particularly interesting. The peninsula sits at Africa’s northwestern edge, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. At just 14 kilometres from Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar, this area has long been a natural crossroads between continents and cultures. I’m an archaeologist and PhD student who specialises in North Africa’s later prehistoric periods,…