LISTEN | Idris Elba chats about shooting his film 'Beast' in Mzansi

British actor and film producer Idris Elba can't wait for Mzansi to see his film Beast that was released on Friday.

Speaking to seasoned broadcaster Anele Mdoda on 947 the actor said they found the location of the adventure thriller to be of significance to the movie.

 “It was important for us to take the film to where this actually happens, that people could understand the logistics of what's going on. How isolating it is for not just this family, but for a rogue lion to be split from its pride, just get a sense of geographically what that means. The lion finds itself close to a small village [as] easy prey and it has [a] sort of revenge on its mind. That's why it was important to come to SA and scout locations.”

SA-born actor Sharlto Copley stars alongside Elba. He also starred in District 9, a film that was partly shot in SA. Copley said he always tried to give back to the movie industry.

“Ever since District 9, whenever I can I try to do whatever I can to bring the spotlight back here and showcase the country or the people and this one we got to have an incredible SA crew as well, working at the highest levels of production. It features incredible landscapes and wildlife that we have here,” Copley said.

TimesLIVE reported poaching has gone up in SA for the first time in seven years.

The number of rhinos killed by poachers in SA, which has the world’s biggest population of the animals, climbed for the first time in seven years in 2021 as curbs on movement related to the coronavirus pandemic eased.

The number of the animals killed illegally rose by 14% to 451, which is still below the 594 poached in 2019 and is just over a third of the number hunted in 2014, when a record number died.

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