1 man, 15 broken hearts

‘THE POLYGAMIST’: GOMORRAH KIDS UNPACK JONASI'S BETRAYAL

- Kaunda Selisho

Cast members say the Netflix drama is less about traditional polygamy and more about one selfish man destroying 15 lives with dishonesty.

Netflix’s new local drama The Polygamist was billed as the show that will get South Africa talking, and a few weeks after its premiere, it’s all the world can talk about.

Speaking to The Citizen during a junket for the series, stars Luyanda Zwane (Lindani), Wonder Ndlovu (Menzi), Noluthando Shabalala (Mpume) and Lwazie Tsebesha (Sarah) reflected on portraying a family torn apart by one man’s secrets and why they believe the show is less about polygamy and more about the devastation caused by dishonesty.

‘Legalised infidelity’

Although The Polygamist draws on a practice deeply rooted in African culture, the cast drew a line between traditional polygamy and the actions of patriarch Jonasi Gomorrah.

‘‘Honestly speaking, there's polygamy, and there’s what Jonasi is doing. That is not [polygamy]. That is different. I've studied a bit about polygamy and all of that and why people used to do it. Jonasi is not doing any of that,’’ said Ndlovu.

Shabalala put it more bluntly: ‘‘It’s legalised infidelity.’’