The Polygamist. Gugu Gumede as Joyce Gomora in The Polygamist. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Mpumelelo Macu/Netflix
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Mpumelelo Macu/Netflix
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Netflix’s The Polygamist, a Zulu-language telenovela, has grow to be a nationwide speaking level in South Africa. However the scandal-filled saga has additionally emerged as a shock world hit, with audiences from Romania to Hong Kong to the U.S. bingeing the twists, betrayals and household drama.
The story of a dishonest husband’s double life racked up greater than 23 million views in its first month, reaching the highest ten in 62 nations, together with the US, and the primary spot in nearly two dozen nations.
The Polygamist, set in Johannesburg, facilities on a rich Black household, the Gomoras, and follows the matriarch Joyce as she tries to maintain up appearances as her businessman husband Jonasi units up home with one other lady.
Over the course of the 22 episodes vicious catfights get away, houses are set alight, there’s numerous intercourse and swearing, and all of the unimaginable twists and turns are sufficient to provide the viewer whiplash.
Even celebrities have been taking to social media to rave concerning the collection, together with former host of The View, Sherri Shepard.
“I’m about to go back and finish watching The Polygamist because I’m hooked now,” she mentioned on her Instagram account.
“Crazy rich Africans, I thought Crazy Rich Asians was something, but crazy rich Africans is a whole other level. Good grief! What?!” Shepard continued, referring to the hit 2018 romantic-comedy set amongst rich Singaporeans.
The Polygamist. (L to R) Sdumo Mtshali as Jonasi Gomora, Kwanele Mthethewa as Matipa in The Polygamist. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
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Netflix
Sue Nyathi, the Zimbabwean author who wrote the ebook the present was based mostly on, says she thinks that is precisely one of many causes international viewers are amazed by the present.
“It also showcases a different kind of African lifestyle that viewers are not familiar with, you know, the rich African…because oftentimes in media, we have one lens in which Africans are viewed,” she says.
“It’s always the poor struggling Africans. And this is not to dismiss the poverty in Africa. No, but it’s also saying that there is also a society of Africans that are very, you know, affluent, well off.”
And it isn’t quiet luxurious. The scenes are set in gilded Johannesburg mansions with lush gardens, and there are high-end autos and designer garments aplenty.
However Nyathi says she additionally thinks the story transcends borders as a result of “It’s a series that holds up a mirror to society and people see themselves in one form or the other. And so because it resonates deeply, that’s what makes it popular.”
“I mean, as much as Jonas is a polygamist, he’s also a cheating husband. Infidelity, things of infidelity permeate the story. And I think that’s a problem that is universal, you know,” she provides.
“You have a married couple, then you have the mistress or the paramour, the side chick, whatever you want to call it. And that story is familiar for a lot of people.”
A Zimbabwean author and a President’s daughter
Nyathi says her ebook struggled to realize traction when first revealed, so the Netflix adaptation has been an enormous increase, with the novel now flying off the cabinets in South Africa. Even people who find themselves not common readers have informed her at ebook signings they have been eager to purchase her novel.
Nyathi says she was impressed to put in writing the ebook after seeing how African males have been deviating from conventional open polygamy, to having secret second households, and the adverse results this was having on the ladies.
“So in the book, the story is told from the women’s POV (point of view). The man never speaks…Because we’ve heard men speak all our lives. And men will always justify why they want to have more than one wife.”
“I wanted to give the women a voice as to say, why would they choose this kind of setup, you know,” Nyathi added.
Sue Nyathi, author of the ebook “The Polygamist” with Gugu Zuma-Ncube, one of many producers of the Netflix collection by the identical identify.
Courtesy of Sue Nyathi
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Courtesy of Sue Nyathi
In South Africa, polygamy is allowed underneath conventional regulation –- however not civil regulation. In its conventional kind it isn’t secret, with all of the wives realizing about each other. The Zulu monarchs apply polygamy, and the present King has three wives — with a scandal erupted earlier this month over one in every of them.
King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was seen in a leaked video threatening to bodily assault Queen Nomzamo Myeni, who he mentioned had taken a lover. He berated her, then ordered her to go away his family.
It is a matter the Netflix collection producers know all about. It is made by Gugu Zuma-Ncube and Thuli Zuma, two of the daughters of the nation’s most high-profile polygamist – former President Jacob Zuma, who has 4 wives.
“My father is a polygamist. He had several wives…it’s definitely formed part of my experience. It’s formed a big chunk of my childhood, just understanding the dynamics, being frustrated sometimes by a lot of it, but also trying to appreciate it for what it is and for the choices that people make,” Zuma-Ncube says.
Her Dad hasn’t watched the present but, however she thinks he’ll ultimately.
“I’m very interested to see what he thinks,” she says.
Zuma-Ncube additionally hopes the present’s reputation internationally may have a knock-on impact.
“We were completely surprised by, completely blown away, still kind of pinching ourselves at the moment, as to how well it’s done abroad,” she mentioned. “I think the attention that it’s gotten, the welcome and reception that it’s gotten, I think will help the entire industry and will benefit all African storytellers.”
The present is within the Zulu language, although it strikes seamlessly between English and different languages too – which mirrors South Africa’s totally multilingual actuality.
The Polygamist. (L to R) Noluthando Shabalala as Mpume Gomora, Kwanele Mthethewa as Matipa, S’dumo Mtshali as Jonasi Gomora in The Polygamist. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
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Netflix
Nevertheless it additionally has a dubbed model, which is voiced by South Africans and retains a number of the native vernacular. Overseas viewers might be launched to widespread phrases like “haibo!’ an exclamation meaning ‘wow!,’ and the South Africa-wide weekend institution of “braaiing” or barbecuing.
But Zuma-Ncube encourages viewer to give the original audio with subtitles a try, noting “I used to be watching a creator from (South) Korea who was saying she was studying how one can communicate Zulu watching the present, which was actually, actually attention-grabbing.”
And the present has been igniting debate in South Africa too, not nearly polygamy, however about girls’s rights, protected intercourse and HIV.
UNAIDS has run advertisements with a photograph of the present’s title character, saying “Don’t be a Jonasi. Keep yourself and your partners safe.”
And a authorities division in South Africa’s rural Limpopo province has waged an academic marketing campaign in opposition to gender-based violence with the tagline: “The Polygamist shows fiction, Gender-based Violence and Femicide shows consequences. Break the cycle.”
A present constructed on secrets and techniques and scandal is now driving some very actual conversations.
