Remember the colourful South African traditional chief and statesman, Goodwill Zwelithini? He is the brain behind the revival of the royal reed dance, known as Umkhosi Womhlanga – an annual festival celebrated in South Africa. Girls from Zululand and small groups from Swazi land used to participate in this ceremony, which is now swinging back to reckoning.
This is an annual ceremony in which young maidens take reeds and deposit in Enyokeni Palace where the ruler lives. The princess leads the maidens in the procession because she plays a prominent role throughout the festival. They adorn traditional attires with elaborate beadwork. They also wear bracelets and ankles. But in all this beautiful attire, the girls are half-naked.
The maidens are careful not to break the reeds. Once a maiden breaks her reed, she is considered to be sexually active. The girls are made to undergo a virginity test before they participate in the show. After they have all dropped their reeds, the maidens dance half naked for the king.
This tradition is said to have started in the 1940s and required young virgins to dance for the entertainment of the king and his guests. As the local understanding goes, those who dance so well get the opportunity to be chosen as the king’s young brides and used to remain in the royal palace forever.
After a while, the tradition stopped and was reintroduced in 1991 by Goodwill Zwelithini the traditional ruler. He used it as a measure to encourage high moral standards, abstinence from sexual activity until marriage and a measure to check the spread of HIV/AIDS in contemporary South Africa.
