BCCSA dismisses complaint against bare-breasted cast in ‘Shaka ILembe’

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has dismissed a complaint by a viewer who wanted to stop the airing of promotional content featuring bare-breasted actors on Mzansi Magic’s much-loved historical drama series, Shaka ILembe.

Multichoice’s argument

According to the Sunday Times, Multichoice argued that the show’s promos that depict nudity are aired during programmes that are not suitable for children. “The complaint was dismissed by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) because our broadcast scheduled all promos that showed bare-breasted women after watershed [the time after which programmes that are regarded as unsuitable for children are broadcast on television],” MultiChoice said. “Further, in line with classification guidelines, if the nudity is in a cultural context, no nudity warning is required. The overall age restriction for the series is 16.”

Cultural experts weigh in

In addition, University of KwaZulu-Natal cultural expert Dr Gugu Mazibuko said that history cannot be distorted as the series is based on the life of one of King Shaka. While Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research associate professor Hlonipha Mokoena said: “The first assumption is that nakedness means sex or sexiness or sexuality. Second, the assumption is that only women’s nudity equals objectification; men are assumed to never need to be protected from objectification.”

No actor or actress forced to show their body

Mokoena added that no actor or actress would be forced to show their body if they were uncomfortable to do so and no actor or actress would be denied a part in Shaka iLembe if they decided they didn’t want to show their body. “Even here, two issues are being confused — culture and the making of the film. From our initial discussions about the series after extensive consultation with the lead cast, we made a policy decision that while we wanted to be authentic in representing the period, no actor or actress would be forced to reveal their body if it made them feel uncomfortable or exploited.”

‘Shaka ILembe’ makes history

The highly-anticipated IsiZulu series made ratings history in its first week with over 3.6 million viewers across DStv in South Africa – the best-ever performance for a MultiChoice drama series in its history. Shaka ILembe also reached number 1 on the DStv App across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and other African countries. On social media, it trended number one on Twitter and dominated TikTok.