How a 2012 novel become Netflix's most-watched African original

From the imagination of award-winning Zimbabwean author Sukoluhle Nyathi comes The Polygamist, a powerful story of love, ambition, family, and the choices that shape our lives. First published as a novel, the gripping tale has captured global attention after its transformation into Netflix’s biggest African original series. Nyathi’s journey from Bulawayo storyteller to international literary sensation is as inspiring as the characters she creates. Explore the woman behind the phenomenon, the remarkable rise of The Polygamist, and the story that has audiences across the world talking..By Luis Monzon.Sukoluhle Nyathi is the author of The Polygamist, the novel-turned-series that became the biggest original African series in Netflix’s history.The 22-episode series climbed to the top spot of Netflix’s most-watched series in 21 countries around the globe and into the top ten in 62 countries, amassing 27.6 million views in just under a month.Known professionally by her pen name “Sue” Nyathi, the best-selling author was born on 23 June 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Her first name is a Nguni phrase that means “Beautiful Day.”She began her education at Tennyson Primary School in Bulawayo, before completing her primary schooling at Carmel School. Nyathi said that this is when she first developed a passion for writing.At the age of 10, she began cutting out pictures from magazines and writing excerpts about the men and women in the pictures.She would go on to complete her high school at the Girls College, one of the country’s foremost all-girls private boarding schools.“Girls College is where my writing really took root. I was 13 when I penned my first novel titled Crazy Over You,” Nyathi said in her personal bio.She said she was inspired by the popular Sweet Valley High series of novels by Francine Pascal, which would eventually become its own popular series in the US.She completed her Cambridge A Levels at Girls College before heading off to the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), where she studied finance despite a fierce love of creative writing.She later completed a Master’s Degree in Finance and Investment at NUST and immediately entered the field, even though writing remained a priority.“I have a career spanning over 10 years in finance and investments, and over 5 years in economic development consulting. My career in finance never stifled my creativity,” she said.“I continued to write after hours to escape the drudgery of economic shop talk and financial markets. I was a freelance writer for the ‘Steaming Off’ column in the Sunday Mail, a local weekly in Harare.”She compared this column to Candace Bushnell’s famous Sex and the City column, which ran in the New York Observer in the 1990s.“Many of my articles concerning love and relationships were popularly received. I got a lot of responses through my email as total strangers poured out their hearts to me about personal ordeals,” she said..Publishing The Polygamist and finding breakout success.She said that by this time she had already written several manuscripts that remained unpublished, including A Family Affair, which would finally be released in 2020.In 2008, Nyathi relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa. She said the move was based on her idea of finding better chances of getting published.South Africa had a more vibrant literary and publishing industry compared to Zimbabwe, she said. Nyathi would see her debut novel, The Polygamist, published in 2012.Since The Polygamist, Nyathi would receive multiple awards and write several more books: The Gold Differs in 2018, A Family Affair in 2020, An Angel’s Demise in 2022 and Rubies and Rain in 2025.Nyathi would also write for television productions. In 2015, she was credited as a screenwriter on the E-tv drama series Matatiele, and in 2017 for the SABC 2 drama Bone of My Bones.In June 2026, Netflix released The Polygamist. It was a breakout global success, the streaming giant said. By July, it had achieved a view-time of over 159 million hours.The show spent seven consecutive weeks on Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English Shows list, where it debuted at number 2 — the biggest success ever for a Netflix original from South Africa.“The series’ impact has extended beyond the screen, with book sales tripling following The Polygamist’s Netflix debut, over a decade after the book was first published,” Netflix said.Netflix produced The Polygamist with Stained Glass Production over nearly 100 days, filmed in South Africa. Roughly 150 cast and crew, and over 70 extras and daily hires took part in the production.The same week as the series launched, The Polygamist hit number 1 on the Exclusive Books Top 10 Bestsellers list in South Africa.The series also boosted Nyathi’s other novels. An Angel’s Demise sold out following the Netflix debut after only selling 2,500 copies in its first two years of release.“I keep pinching myself,” said Nyathi in an interview with Netflix. “When I was watching it, I was like ‘Did I do that?'” “Of all my books, The Polygamist was dismissed as fluff. To hear people call it a masterpiece and being able to draw so many life lessons from it is incredible.”.More images of Sue Nyathi.*This article was originally published by MyBroadband and has been republished with permission..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

How a 2012 novel become Netflix's most-watched African original

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