Who’s the meanest one of all? The evillest women on TV

International soap operas may think that they set the standard when it comes to mean moms – like Bold & Beautiful’s Stephanie Forrester, who repeatedly called Brooke “that whore from the Valley” – but they’ve got nothing on Mzansi’s meanest mothers.

Here’s a peek at three moms you don’t want to mess with on Showmax screens…

Angelique Price – Legacy

Angelique is the newcomer-mama in this bunch but it’s a role Michelle Botes has played many times before. Divorcee, angry, ruthless, dangerous, protective of her children, and hyper intelligent – sounds like, among others, Michelle’s most famous character, Isidingo’s Cherel.

Angelique is still carrying a grudge against Dineo, the woman she claims stole not just their hubby Sebastian from her, but also a father from her three daughters (although all three girls still really got on well with Sebastian at the start of the show). But that’s jealousy because Angelique was literally replaced by a younger model – Dineo is as old as Angelique’s eldest daughter Felicity and was a model wearing head-to-toe designer labels when she snatched Seb’s heart. Because of that jealousy, it’s guaranteed fireworks when Angelique and Dineo are in the same room. This is more than they’re comfortable with after Sebastian disappears and both are fighting for control of his fortune and Legacy Investments (even if neither says it outright).

Nevermind a lion, Angelique is more like a leopard mother watching over her cubs. She sits in the background, looking like a billion bucks, letting them get on with business. But the second an enemy comes close, Angelique slinks up, herds her babies together and flashes her teeth. And you can bet that her bite is way, way worse than her growl.

Don’t mistake Angelique for a softie either because she doesn’t throw punches. Those claws are razor sharp but her brain – she gave up a very promising law degree to be a dedicated mother – is sharper. She’s like a maths robot: she’s always calculating, thinking about her enemy’s next five moves and putting plans in place to not just defend her position, but counter and put them under pressure.

Louwna Edwards – Egoli: Place Of Gold

For nigh on 20 years, the super-rich characters on Egoli were fearful of one person and one person only: Brümilda van Rensburg’s character Louwna. She might not look like your typical housewife – her hair was always done and never out of place, there’s no such thing as chipped nails, and the bling-bling was bright enough to give you a tan – but she was the wife that ran the Edwards house. Being married to a big-noise businessman like Chris gave her power and authority in the neighbourhood but she was also not someone to be messed with in the boardroom.

But where Louwna excelled was being a bitch. There’s no other word for it. Catty remarks, trashing her rivals behind their backs, putting on a fake smile while the world watched her and frenemies like Lynette in public, ready to drive a knife home the second they walked away – you name the pettiness and Louwna had the PhD. And while you could do any number of things to her – like Chris cheating with Lynette – you simply did not cross the line and attack her family. That’s off bounds and if anyone is going to throw shade on a member of the Edwards family, it’s going to be Louwna herself.

PS: She earns the nickname “Black Widow” in the final episode, descending the staircase, dressed in black, looking ready to kill with one venomous bite as she eyes victims in her intricately woven web.

Watch all of Egoli: Place of Gold on Showmax and relive all the glorious drama. Or catch Brümilda van Rensburg in an entirely different role in the kykNET comedy Lui Maar Op, Belinda.

Harriet Khoza – The Queen

Connie Ferguson’s queen bee character is more than just ruthless, she’s downright demonic when it comes to protecting her family… and her family’s drug empire. For crying out loud, the woman put a hit out on her husband in the very first episode (if you’ve never watched The Queen, you can catch up all the way from episode 1). And she has kickstarted more feuds than she cares to remember. But she’s tougher than a rhino’s hide, and Harriet takes a beating and keeps on kickin’.

Harriet is fiercely loyal though. Her brother Brutus might go against her and act without thinking, but he knows that Harriet will always have his back and fix his errors (even if it means giving him a lecture afterwards when no one is looking). The same goes with her kids – it doesn’t matter what they do, they’ve got a lioness in their corner. Even when they cost her a fortune and put their drug business under threat, Harriet will swoop in to save the day. There’s also no backchatting this mama bear, either. And she doesn’t need to utter a word – one look from Queen Khoza and you know that you’re in trouble.

How vicious is Harriet really? So far to protect herself, her family and her business…

• She poisoned her drug kingpin rival Diamond at lunch and sipped her bubbly while he coughed up blood and in front of her;
• She shot her future daughter-in-law Kamina while being held hostage by Kamina (who was in cahoots with Diamond);
• She tortured, whipped, beat and poured petrol over her daughter Kea’s abusive boyfriend, who had beaten Kea to a blood pulp, screaming and shouting at her “victim” and telling him to beg for his life; and
• She tortured her enemy Jasmine by dousing her in water, putting her feet in a bucket of water and running electricity through the woman. Jasmine’s screams of pain and suffering are the things nightmares are made of.

The River’s Lindiwe, The Herd’s MaMngadi and more villains to fear