She’s created shows with more Saft wins than fit on even the biggest of shelves, with 27 for Isibaya alone, and produced over 70 video installations at The Apartheid Museum.
In her storied career, Desireé Markgraaff has produced some of South Africa’s most popular TV, which have won at the Emmys and Sundance (Amandla!), at the Venice Film Festival (Yizo Yizo), and at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (Shuga).
Her crowning achievement though is co-creating and producing Shaka iLembe, Google’s most searched TV series in South Africa in 2023, which set the SAFTA record for the most Drama category wins ever in a year in 2024.
With Shaka iLembe S2 releasing new episodes every Sunday night on Mzansi Magic until its finale on 31 August, we sat down with Desireé to find out more if making Season 2 was any easier.
“Only because we understood many of the challenges,” she says. “We had a fantastic launchpad from Season 1, which set us up well for the second season, but we had to scale up everything dramatically and it was hard.”
Most of the sets had to be rebuilt. “They’re made out of natural materials, so a year and a half between shoots took its toll,” she says.
Similarly, the wardrobe couldn’t just be re-used because the cast grew so much in Season 2.
The biggest learning was just the practical HR challenges. “We created over 8 000 jobs on Season 1 and over 16 000 jobs on Season 2. When you partner with so many people, it’s challenging to understand all of their dynamics. That was a big learning curve.”
Similarly, with all the extras, there could be a thousand people on the set on any given day. “So just managing those logistics was challenging: how do you feed everyone, and make sure you have enough toilets, and that everyone stays warm enough?”
In addition, the weather was challenging. “We were working in the winter because in the summer there’s snakes and it’s too hot for people to be out in the sun wearing very little: your skin is going to get burnt. But it was very hard in the winter, again because people are wearing very little, so how do you keep them warm?”
Shooting in a wildlife sanctuary had its surprises too. “At night poachers would come in. Our stuff was being stolen in the middle of the night. Even big, heavy things, like the lighting rigs you’d been planning on using the next morning. So, we really had to roll with the punches.”
Most of us would struggle to do that though, especially with the weight of Mzansi Magic’s biggest ever budget hanging over us, and the pressure to live up to Season 1.
For Desiree, the key to managing the stress was remembering her purpose. “The purpose of the series is so much larger and more important than any given thing that is happening in a day. Everybody in the making of that show understood that we were doing something that was important. None of us came to that show saying it’s just another TV series.
We all understood that what we’re trying to do is to bring a really important history to life for future generations, for our kids. When you can remember why you’re doing this and why it matters, that gives you courage to push through the tough things.”
She also credits the people around her. “We had an unbelievable team, so the stress was shared. It’s like Shaka – when he went into battle, it wasn’t him alone. He had great people around him, and that’s why he commanded so effectively.
That’s why we celebrate Ngomane, Nandi, and Mkabayi in Shaka Ilembe. No great feat is accomplished without multiple hands. Our amazing directors: Angus Gibson, Adze Ugah, Zeno Petersen, Catherine Stewart.
My co-exec producers Nomzamo Mbatha and Nhlanhla Mtaka. Our world-class crew and cast. We also had a good relationship with our client, Mzansi Magic. We were completely aware of the massive risk they were taking on their side, so we were extremely grateful.”
Watch the S2 trailer:
Watch the making of:
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