Unmerry Tradwives: The Polygamist: Netflix ‘supernovella’ tops Madlanga Commission as national conversation

Based on the novel by Sue Nyathi, the 22-episode Netflix ‘supernovella’ lifts the story of a polygamous marriage into the stratosphere with a stellar cast, brilliant photography, great direction and a soundtrack to match the mood. Then there are the pressing issues that have been raised.

While the Madlanga Commission reached peak season in South Africa in early June with unexpected and consequential twists and turns for the powerful and corrupt, the fictional The Polygamist has entered the intimacy of the domestic space, familiar to all and sparking a national debate.

On 12 June, the long-awaited series was released on Netflix and within four days shot to the top slot as South Africans and others across the continent began to debate myriad issues highlighted by the entwined narratives.

Polygamy (naturally) features, as does infidelity, patriarchal privilege, domestic violence, class, sex, the power imbalance in transactional relationships and most importantly, the emotional collateral damage wreaked on children of a present but absent father.

Zimbabwean-born Nyathi has spoken about the type of polygamy she has written about as cut-and-paste when a man justifies a range of transgressions in the name of culture. This we are familiar with in South Africa.

The Polygamist, written in 2012, was self-published and the author has since gone on to pen the popular The Gold Diggers, A Family Affair, An Angel’s Demise and Rubies and Rain.

Nyati is a keen observer of contemporary African life and her novels do not shy away from the challenges and hurdles women face in a patriarchal society. These are the Tradwives of South Africa, as opposed to the Tradwives of the US, who also live by an impossible 1950s ideal of woman and motherhood,

Stories and series about polygamy are not new in this country – Mzansi Magic’s Uthando Nes’thembu, a reality series based on the life of businessmen Musa Mseleku and his four/five wives, has been streaming since 2017.

The creative collaboration between Nyathi and the production team, including director Akin Omotoso, with Gugu Zuma-Ncube, Thuli Zuma and Pepsi Pokane as executive producers, Lorato Phefo as writer and Fahiema Hendricks as director of photography, has provided this scorching drama with the sparks to connect an audience left reeling.

And it is the embodiment of each of Nyathi’s characters by this stellar cast, thrown together in a bowl like cake mix, that gives this series its feeling of intimacy and immediacy. Be warned, cancel all plans should you embark on a binge watch.

Things are so close it is as if the view