Once a year, young Swazi girls and women celebrate their chastity, honor their Queen Mother and participate in a week long ceremony that finalizes its events with a two day display of pageantry and tradition. It seemed more like a gathering of friends and loved ones, to dance, show respect to their cultural traditions, and honor themselves as both beautiful and chaste women of Swaziland. The Zulu Reed Dance ceremony is the key element of keeping young girls virgins until they are ready to get married. So the Swazi people start all their children young; boys included. The girls are dressed in varying versions of the traditional wardrobe of Swazi women; royals are clearly marked with red feathers emerging from their headdresses shining like rubies when hit by the sun. I have asked all those ‘izintombi’ and ‘amabutho’ who are now ‘omama’ (married women/mothers) and ‘obaba’ (married men/fathers) to be here. “I’d like to thank my daughters for the role they have played in the success of this ceremony. Swazi Reed Dance-Umhlanga Festival. The group of them swept back off the field once they had shown their appreciation to their daughters, hardly making a wrinkle in the day’s events. Peaceful, quiet, only interrupted by the call of a rooster or the laughing of children, a mother calling her boys in from the field, occasionally the yell of a hungry cow. But women from other parts of Africa travel long distances to appear in the ceremony, just as Swazi girls travel to South Africa to participate in their Umhlanga. More than 25 000 Zulu virgins gather at the King’s Enyokeni Traditional Residence for this very colourful and meaningful ceremony every September which promotes respect for young women, and preserves the custom of keeping girls as virgins until marriage. Being here and talking to locals, it seems most wouldn’t question the respect they are to give their king; as well as the traditions held by the country that continues to be governed as an absolute monarchy. The girls converge in groups from the Zululand regions on the Kings Palace the day before the ceremony. Visually you can see that no matter what figure you come up with, it’s nothing to scoff at. The announcer may have worded the idea with more grace and ere of legend or cultural significance than how I may have at it, but the principle still applies. They were broadcasting the nation’s beliefs in a way that was reminiscent, for me, of the rituals and beliefs of the Catholic Church; like during the Liturgy of the Eucharist when you say, “It is right to give Him thanks and praise”… no question, no alternative. After a close run-in with an angry elephant at Hlane, Edwin and I were happy to have been driven around by someone who knows the area and how to get out of potentially unfortunate situations. The fusion of these ceremonies brings us hope for a better future. His lavish spending’s and lifestyle only befitting a king has been criticized publicly and constantly talked about by those in-country seeking a democratic solution to the state of the kingdom. (Press and VIP access can be arranged, please enquire well in advance.). When asked how many more there were, he replied: “more than I could count!” The number seems inconsequential to the people of Swazi. “We need a good foundation to promote a brighter and better future.
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