King Shaka, an epic drama series, will not see the light of the day. This is after Showtime, a streaming service, canned it before it came on air. 

PRODUCTION PERMANENTLY AXED 

The production was permanently shut down over the weekend, 12 days before they could finish shooting. Co-written by Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films and CBS Studios ,the show tells of the Zulu King Shaka and his rise to power. According to a source ,who was part of the production, producers with the help of Showtime are looking for a new home for the show. The $90 million ( R1,6 billion) worth drama series is set in KwaZulu-Natal where the King Shaka was born.

 
LOCALS LEFT WITHOUT JOBS 

 The show employed more than 300 locals and featured a glittering cast including Tony Kgoroge, Sindi Dlathu and Bahle Hadebe. According to a source, who spoke to ZiMoja, many cast members did not see the move coming. "We received different messages from our departments informing us that production won't take continue anymore, but when it was confirmed by an official email, we knew we had a serious issue,' says the source. Zimoja is in possession of texts which were sent to some of the cast members. It read: "Hi Everyone, it's with regret to inform you that King Shaka has been cancelled with immediate effect. "It's a corporate and financial decision and our shoot today was cancelled. We are no longer going to be shooting at all,'   The move came after Showtime merged with sister streamer, Paramount to form a new channel called Paramount+. King Shaka is not the only affected show. Two other new drama series with completed seasons were let go, including Three Women and Ripley, which moved to Netflix.