This novel is the first of many works of literature that takes the great Zulu leader, king, and emperor as its subject. The story is well-known, partly due to Mofolo but also to the works of literature by Badian, Senghor, and Mazisi Kunene. O.R. Dathorne has said, "The historical Chaka is only the impetus for Mofolo's psychological study of the nature of repudiation." Mofolo presents it as a study of human passion, of an uncontrolled and then uncontrollable ambition leading to the moral destruction of the character and the inevitable punishment.

In Chaka word die geboorte, opgang en val van die historiese Shaka slegs as vertrekpunt gebruik. Die werk vertoon konneksies met verskeie mondelinge en literere genres soos die volksverhaal, legende, fabel, sage, fantasie en selfs mite. Daar is ook allegoriese kenmerke. Sy stilistiese grootsheid, poetiese prosa, historiese basis met vermenging van fiktiewe elemente en karakters, die idealisering van Shaka se krygsvernuf, die heroisering, is kenmerke wat die werk waarskynlik op die vlak van 'n literere epos plaas. Chaka se oorwinning oor die onregverdige behandeling wat hom in sy jeug te beurt geval het - gedeeltelik as gevolg van sy buite-egtelike verwekking - en sy vordering tot magtige heerser oor die grootste gedeelte van Suider-Afrika, word in die roman aangebied as 'n direkte gevolg van die intervensie van bonatuurlike magte wat hom dapper en bloeddorstig gemaak het: eers deur die vrouedokter van Bungane en daarna deur die invloedryke tradisionele geestelike Isanusi en sy kornuite Malunga en Ndlebe - wat almal briljant gekarakteriseer word. Chaka eindig met die AmaZulu wat nadink oor die tragedie wat hulle leier te beurt geval het en se: "Di a bela, di a hlweba! Madiba ho pjha a maholo!" (Dit kook en skif! Selfs die groot ryke kom tot 'n val!).

Chaka by Thomas Mofolo is the first of many works of literature that take Shaka, the great Zulu leader as its subject. Written in Sesotho in 1909 (though only published in 1925), it was an instant hit and quickly became Mofolo’s most highly regarded work. A mythic retelling of the story of Shaka’s rise and fall, it was translated into English in 1931 and went on to form the foundation for every subsequent telling of the Shaka legend. In Chaka Mofolo presents us with a study of human passion, of uncontrolled and then uncontrollable ambition leading to the moral destruction of the human character, that is comparable with Shakespeare’s most famous works – Henry V, Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, King Lear, Richard III. In recognition of its seminal influence on literature across the continent, Chaka was named one of the twelve best works of African literature of the 20th century by a panel organized by Ali Mazrui. Subsequent to the initial English translation, the book was published in French, German and Afrikaans. A second, updated English translation was commissioned in 1980. This translation – by Daniel P Kunene (now Professor Emeritus in the Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin) – is ae reissued by Kwela Books in April 2015.