Yes. Themba is ethnically Zulu, he's from South Africa, and he's a grootslang.
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well I do speak Afrikaans quite fluently and I can help with Afrikaans phrases and habits if you'd like stuff like that. I mean for example a very loved quisine among Afrikaans south Africans is Biltong which is a dried and spiced meat. Though it might be similar to jerky biltong is varying meats and such.
Oh boy, you're going to like this build.
We did plenty of research on South Africa for Themba's scenes, thankfully we know a guy from Johannesburg we could consult with to compliment our research. Biltong actually came up- one of the new guests is an aspiring cook, and at one point of the build he can cook regional meals for the guests according to their country of origin. Unfortunately biltong is not exactly a meal that can be prepared on the spot, but we did go with another South African dish for Themba. You'll probably guess which one it is.
I also discovered Hugh Masekela while looking up what kind of music we could use for him and he's grown on me a lot. We're using Grazing in the Grass as placeholder music for his scenes until we get a licensed jazz track to replace it with- out of the placeholder tracks we'll have to replace, it's by far the one that breaks my heart the most.
As for Afrikaans, the hotel translates most of the guest's speech so we didn't really have to look into that. Themba does say "Gesondheid!" when he toasts with the player, though.
That said, having more people to consult with is always good, I would really appreciate it if you could leave us your feedback on Themba and his scenes specifically once we release the build.
InWONDERFUL! Though depending on which region you speak of and what of our 8 cultures you're talking about there may be diffences, I'm part of the Boer culture which means I'm a descendant of the German settlers of South Africa. To me, a good and classic dish is Pap met sous end wors. Which is essentially a corn crumble porridge with a tomato and onion sauce, the Pap is then accompanied with a sausage.
Though if you want to reliably contact me then you'll need to use WhatsApp, and I think it's sorta obvious why since South Africa's current dilemma must've come up in your research. I can perhaps direct you to my discord or telegram tho but I'll be much less available on there.