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Everything you need to know about The Wife

The Showmax original that was released this week promises some A-Grade South African drama.

Since the first three episodes of The Wife were released on Showmax this morning, it has been trending on Twitter and has shot to the top of the streaming channels Top 20.

So what is it about The Wife that has South Africa so excited?

The storyline of the new South African telenovela is inspired by Dudu Busani-Dube’s best-selling novel series Hlomu the Wife, Zandile the Resolute and Naledi His Love. Dube released ther novel series in 2015 and all three follow the lives of the eight Zulu brothers, who are part of a formidable crime family, through the eyes of the wives they marry.

Now, Showmax has commissioned three 40 episode seasons of The Wife and each season is inspired by Dube’s books. The first season of the wife was released this morning and the plot follows the story of a journalist who falls in love with a taxi driver forgetting that when you marry a man, you marry his secrets. Watch the trailer below:

The Wife also includes an all star cast with Mbalenhle Mavimbela playing the lead of Hlomu, the wife and journalist, and Bonko Khoza in the role of Mqhele, the taxi driver with dark secrets.

In the roles of the eight Zulu brothers Showmax cast Kwenzo Ngcobo as Qhawe, Sipho Ndlovu as Sambulo, Abdul Khoza as Nqoba, Mondli Makhoba as Nkosana, Thulane Nkululeko Shange as Mqoqi, Ishmauel Songo as Mpande and Swelihle Luthuli as Ntsika.

Picture: The Zulu brothers, from The Wife, Showmax

Speaking in a Showmax interview about the adaption of her story to television drama, Dudu Busani-Dube shared that The Wife is going to be very different from the book.

“When somebody reads a book, it’s going to be their imagination. But when it comes to something visual, it’s actually not easy to adapt it as it is.There are going to be new things and new people that are introduced by the film part of it and things that are going to be left out from the books.

“This is a telenovela that is inspired by the books, so it changes. It changes a lot. So look, ja, it’s going to be different, but people are going to love it. I’m just a book person; that’s what I do. So I’m just going to let the film people do what they do. I’m excited to see how it goes, how they do it. I’m trusting the process.”, Dube says.

The first three episodes of The Wife are out on Showmax now and new episodes are added every Thursday.

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