“In my whole career I never thought I’d be upstaged by a wig,” Skeem Saam actor Shoki Mmola jokes about her character Celia Kunutu’s questionable pixie hairdo.

The matronly hairstyle, regarded by many viewers as a faux pas, has even been turned into a meme on the internet. For instance, when some people are seeing flames in their lives they often tweet: “Bophelo ke wig ya Celia Kunutu [Life is tough like Celia Kunutu’s wig]”...