However, the Modjadji Royal Council and family say they were consulted and gave their blessing for the series. Secretary-general of the Balobedu Royal Council, Gabriel Rasebotsa, told the Herald, that the production is a misrepresentation of the Balobedu people. The Balobedu Council applied for an urgent court interdict aiming to prevent it from airing, however, the Pretoria High Court dismissed it. “The attire and the beads the actors are wearing are not what we wear.
They are also using actors from other ethnic backgrounds whose pronunciation of our language is not good. “The production team should have first consulted with us and sat down with the queen, and we would have looked for the relevant elders who would have shared our correct history,” he said. Rasepotsa likens the series to genocide and says the story is an attempt to wipe out their culture and values through misrepresentation.
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The story is produced by Duma kaNdlovu, who hosted a premiere at Montecasino in Johannesburg last week where dignitaries including Greater Letaba Municipality Mayor Dagma Mamanyoha, Education MEC Mavhungu LeruleRamakhanya and Sports, Arts and Culture MEC Jerry Maseko were present. The regent of the Bolobedu royal nation, Mpapatla Modjadji, was also part of the occasion. Ronnie Moroatshehla, spokesperson of the Modjadji Royal Council and family, said the series is their brainchild, stating that Duma Ka Ndlovu consulted with them, and they gave him their blessing.
Rasepotsa said they plan to coronate Queen Masalanabo in September this year.
