SWAZILAND: Thousands of topless virgins pay homage to the Swazi King in celebration of their chastity

Record ID: 658695

  • Title: SWAZILAND: Thousands of topless virgins pay homage to the Swazi King in celebration of their chastity
  • Date: 23rd October 2005
  • Summary: SWAZI AND ZULU KINGS LEAD WARRIORS IN TRADITIONAL INSPECTION AND HONOURING OF THE VIRGINS PRINCESSES SINGING AND DANCING MORE MAIDENS SINGING AND DANCING PEOPLE WATCHING; WIDE OF SWAZI AND ZULU KINGS WITH WARRIORS INSPECTING AND HONOURING VIRGINS SLV SWAZI ELDERS WATCHING; VARIOUS OF THE VIRGINS SINGING AND DANCING IN CELEBRATION
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LUDZIDZINI, SWAZILAND
  • Country: Swaziland
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA47Q0PSOMWXFUSAMFM85NKCFZU
  • Story Text: Thousands of topless virgins pay homage to the Swazi King in celebration of their chastity.
    More than 50,000 bare-breasted virgins vied to become the King of Swaziland's 13th wife on Monday (August 29) in a ceremony which critics say ill-befits a country with the world's highest HIV/AIDS rate.
    King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, arrived dressed in a leopard-skin loincloth to watch the Reed Dance ceremony, which he has used since 1999 to pluck new brides from the girls dressed in little more than beaded mini skirts.
    Wielding machetes and singing tributes to the king and Queen Mother, also known as the Great She-Elephant, the girls danced around the royal stadium in the hope of catching the eye of the portly 37-year-old monarch.
    Critics say Mswati, who has courted controversy for his lavish lifestyle while two thirds of his subjects live in abject poverty, sets a bad example by encouraging polygamy and teenage sex in a country where 40 percent of adults live with HIV.
    And some say the Reed Dance, traditionally meant to celebrate womanhood and virginity, has become little more than a showcase for the king's young would-be brides.
    Many Swazis say the young monarch has a right to do as he pleases, defending his penchant for young brides as Swazi tradition and arguing ceremonies like the Reed Dance, which this year drew a record 50,000 maidens, cement national identity.
    Many maidens, who come from villages across the country, dream of joining the king's wives who each have their own palace and BMW car. But others were scared catching the royal eye could curtail their freedom and force them into a polygamous marriage.
    The king has also drawn censure from rights groups and the international community for entrenching a ban on political parties in the nation of 1 million people squashed between South Africa and Mozambique.
    Monday's ceremony was the culmination of a week of preparations, which included the lifting of a royal ban on sex with virgins, decreed in 2001 to help rein in HIV.
    ****(some text missing)**** married a virgin and fined himself one cow. Last week he lifted the five-year ban a year early, ordering thousands of maidens to throw off chastity scarves worn to ward of preying men.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.
Register