14 Jan 2025

The first ever Botswana produced Herero/Mbanderu Drama series, Kandu ka Tandaa, which started airing on Botswana Television (BTV 1) about three weeks ago has been well received.

The 26-episode drama series produced by a local film company established 2018, Kanakandje Films fuses the languages of Herero/Mbanderu, English and Setswana.

The series writer and producer, Winnie Tjienda has told BOPA that the drama promoted Herero/Mbanderu culture through edutainment.

“People are loving it, especially the Herero and Mbanderu speakers. It seems people were looking forward to a programme they can relate to and understand without translation. The people of Namibia also love it and hope for a possible way to watch it in their country,” she said.

The drama series filmed in 2022 titled Kandu ka Tandaa translates to, Ngwana wa ga Rakgadi in Setswana or, My paternal aunt’s child’ focuses on the Herero/Mbanderu cultural practice of arranged marriages.

It has two settings of Gaborone and Dikgatlhong near Lentsweletau therefore, mainly centres around two couples who found themselves in love triangles due to having been pre-arranged with some partners.

“It focuses on the positive and the downside of arranged marriages by showcasing how some people were affected by having partners chosen for them from childhood while they tend to envision a different path as young adults,” she said.

The two scenarios, she said were depicted through the two couples Tjitjaoro and Gobona as well as Jacob and Mukazona.

“Although Mukazona was the chosen one for Jacob, a turn of events was experienced when Jacob met Mukazona’s young sister Tave as Jacob fell in love with the young sister but did not know how to leave the arranged wife,” she said.

Tjienda said the drama series also recognised the relationship of the Herero/Mbanderu people with fellow Batswana hence the main character Gobona and her Tswana family.

She stated that the drama series showed that it was possible and high time local producers made content using local languages such as Kalanga and Hambukushu for people of those languages to easily relate and also contribute to cultural preservation.

“Every tribe would be proud to see their local content and language aired on national broadcasters,” she said.

Tjienda - who has a background in script writing and has landed a leading actress in many local films such as Ya le nna Nigeria, Matsale, Worth the Wait and Definitions - pointed out that local film companies should consider partnerships, to produce more quality content that could be marketable locally and internationally.  ENDS