UMHLANGA HOLIDAY OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED

MBABANE – The country’s undoubtedly most colourful ceremony will be officially held on Monday September 3, 2018.

This is none other than the Umhlanga Reed Dance Ceremony where thousands of maidens will dance before Their Majesties after collecting the reed.
The announcement was made yesterday by Indvuna Yembali Nonduduzo Zubuko at the Ludzidzini Royal Residence.

The main day for the reed dance is a public holiday.
According to Zubuko, all maidens have been summoned to come in numbers to the Ludzidzini Royal Residence on Tuesday August 28, 2018.
She said that would be the first day of registration and said on the following two days, the young women would go to the various centres to cut the reed.
“On August 31, 2018, the maidens are expected to return to the royal kraal and on September 1, 2018, they will rest,” reads the announcement.

Zubuko further stated that the maidens would on September 2, 2018 deliver the reed before Their Majesties and September 3, 2018 would be the main day for dancing.

She advised chiefs and community leaders that they were expected to release four men from the various communities who would accompany the maidens.
She said their duties would be to ensure that should any of the maidens not feel well or be involved in any incident, two of them would be able to report to the relevant authorities while the others would also report back to the families should the child be hospitalised.

Zubuko said the chiefs were expected to give both the warriors and maidens advice on how to behave or conduct themselves during the ceremony.
“Nawo lamajaha ayati kutsi tintfombi tilala todvwa nalabadvuna balala bodvwa,” she said.

This is loosely translated to mean that the accompanying males should be well aware that the maidens should sleep separately from them.
The chiefs were further advised that they should not release young children because of the scarcity of the reed in closer areas as the children then fail to walk the long distances to the remote areas where the reed is cut.

Last year, over 100 000 maidens participated in the reed dance where Liphovela LaMashwama was unveiled.         
The reed dance ceremony normally attracts throngs of tourists from the world over, who come to have a first hand experience of Eswatini culture.

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