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.

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And then there are the women.

Cut-and-paste polygamy

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.

COUNTER VIEW Netflix's The Polygamist confuses culture...