A shocking revelation that brought South Africa to a standstill when Dingiswayo, one of the leading characters of Shaka iLembe Seasons 1 and 2, played with heroic power by Thembinkosi Mthembu, met his brutal end. A great Mthethwa king, undone not by war but by cold betrayal and muthi.
In Season 1, Godongwana (later known as Dingiswayo) faced betrayal too, from his brother Mawewe, telling lies & hungry to be his father’s heir. This betrayal led to the brutal killing of many of the Mthethwa brothers, and Godongwana badly wounded had to disappear into exile, hunted by his own people. He waited in exile, respecting his father’s reign whilst building allegiances of his own, and dreaming of his return, to reclaim the Mthethwa throne, and avenge the deaths of his brothers. Finally, on hearing of his father’s death he returned to challenge Mawewe for the throne, now known as Dingiswayo, with a small but loyal army. The night before the clash, driven by principle over vengeance, he offered Mawewe a final chance to surrender. Mawewe refused. He ran to the Qwabe for military support.
The battle was a storm of shields and spears. Mawewe hid from the battlefield as Dingiswayo’s strategy and experience prevailed. Mawewe finally captured and on his knees, begging for his life. Dingiswayo spared him but silenced his treacherous tongue, the source of so much death. Mawewe was exiled. Dingiswayo ascended the Mthethwa throne.
It was during this period that Dingiswayo first saw Shaka fighting alongside the Qwabe.
“I saw you at the Qwabe battle. You showed bravery,” he later told the young warrior. Their bond deepened when years later Dingiswayo said, “Sigidi, you are a son to me”. Shaka had found a father figure and ally.
Dingiswayo’s rise was driven by vision. Though Mawewe’s deceit had cost him dearly, he chose to rebuild, not destroy. His justice was principled.
“I am no traitor” — Angilona imbuka — he declared, first to his father Jobe, then to King Bhungane, played by Sjava. Loyalty defined him. Yet his son Somveli betrayed him in league with the Ndwandwe.
He guided Shaka with affable authority: “You’ve grown. Stop following your mother. Join the Mthethwa army.” He mentored with clarity and conviction.
By Season 2, his dream of uniting the Nguni was under siege, sabotaged from within and hunted from outside by Zwide kaLanga, whose path was shaped by Ntombazi’s dark arts. A trap was laid.
In Episode 7, Dingiswayo awoke shackled in the Ndwandwe kraal. Betrayed, but unbroken. When Ntombazi hissed, “Isivukile inkosi yabaThethwa” (The Mthethwa king is awake), his face registered bitter understanding. Confronting Zwide, he said, “Your witchcraft brought me here. You have no shame”. A chilling reminder to Zwide that if he had fought in fairness, Dingiswayo would not have been captured. Offered a chance to beg, Dingiswayo refused. “You will never hear me beg. The Mthethwas will never bow to the Ndwandwes”.
Even in the face of death, he remained dignified. “After my departure,” he prophesied, “a powerful storm will come”. Then, his final act — a warrior’s last whispers, summoning his lineage: “Simamane, Khuwazi, Xaba, Jobe son of Khayi… Godongwana.” The ritual followed. Cows were unleashed. Stark. Spiritual. A staggering exit.
Thembinkosi Mthembu’s performance was not just acting. It was a part of the soul of the show. A deep and respectful portrayal of a great man, Dingiswayo: kingmaker, reformer, father.
Cece Smith 