African cultural history and heritage has a debt to the Zulu tribes, and especially to its brilliant leader Shaka Zulu, that brutal warrior who managed to unite, in blood and iron, in a single kingdom all the scattered tribal factions of South Africa . Fierce as a panther his international fame came from his clashes with the Boers. Militarily prepared and educated against the domination of the whites, the Zulu tribes protected their lands for years against exploitation and colonialism. Today, Shaka, is a national symbol, and the traditions and values that he forged during his Empire still resonate on the black continent.