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Date	Original Topic
30th March 2004	Shaka By Tarkis I am wondering if anybody can confirm something for me...I seem to recall in the mini series 'Shaka Zulu' there was a part where the King actually mobilised his army and began to march down towards Cape Town with the intention of destroying it. Does anyone know anything about this? I also remember people seemed very concerned that he may actually be able to carry this out.. Imagine what this would have meant for European settlement in South Africa!!! Anyone?
Date	Replies
30th March 2004	Chris Simonis In the movie, Shaka mobolized his army to attack the Cape after his mother died. He felt betrayed by the "swallows" Fynn and Fairwell because he believed they had the secret of eternal youth(casser oil). He was very close to his mother, and ordered that the people should starve the entire year to show proper mourning. Before he reached the Cape, he was killed in a plan formulated by his aunt. I have this series on DVD and would highly recommend it to anyone.
30th March 2004	AMB I would second Chris' comments - a DVD series well worth the money (& time!).
30th March 2004	Keith Smith Tarkis I am sorry to disappoint you but, as with many of these things, the mini-series was less than accurate, largely because it followed the information given by E.A. Ritter in his book "Shaka Zulu". He did send an impi far to the south, to the St John's river, to wage a campaign against Faku and his amaPondo in 1828 but it returned without serious incident. Belatedly, a Major Dundas was sent to deal with the Zulu threat but he arrived a month after the Zulu had withdrawn and fought a group of refigees instead! The matter of the Maccassar Oil was a reference to the request made to Lt. King when the latter took an embassy to King George, which ended up in getting only as far as Port Elizabeth. The correct spelling of the name is "Farewell". The full story is given in considerable detail in A.T. Bryant, "Olden Times in Zululand and Natal".