King Mzilikazi kaMashobane by Nthebe Molope

 

A book I have been meaning to read is King Mzilikazi kaMashobane by Nthebe Molope. I had read Path of Blood by Peter Becker before. Path of Blood is a great book and a must read for anyone interested in the life of King Mzilikazi. Path of Blood is well written, it doesnt feel like a text book and is very vivid. However, according to Nthebe Molope it isn't very accurate. Nthebe says Path of Blood depicts King Mzilikazi as a savage primitive. Thus he wrote King Mzilikazi to give an African perspective of the life of the great king. Molope said, 'If you do not write your own history, someone else will write it for you.' And so Nthebe travelled far and wide, researching and conducting interviews as he followed King Mzilikazi's journey. I wish Nthebe had recorded his journeys and made it into a documentary. It would make very interesting viewing. I have watched many of his interviews and I highly recommend them.

https://www.youtube.com/live/v33ZgqxfR0s?si=WZWV1GgHzPj0cR-I

King Mzilikazi was undoubtedly a great man. He was a formidable warrior, visionary nation builder and an explorer. He is the founder of the Ndebele nation. He was a contemporary of Shaka Zulu, Moshoeshoe, Sebituane, Soshangane, Zwangendaba and all the other great African kings. So it is a travesty that there is no movie, TV series or documentary about Mzilikazi. Whilst South Africans have the Shaka Zulu TV series from the 80s and currently Shaka Ilembe, King Mzilikazi has no film or tv show about him. There is no photograph of the man so he will forever be an enigma to many. Like I said before Nthebe Molope should have created a documentary about his travels in search of the legend of King Mzilikazi. But it is never too late. Tomorrow is another day and there are always opportunities to tell the story of one of southern Africa's greatest sons. I hope one day there will be a movie, film or documentary about the great King Mzilikazi.