SOUTH AFRICA: MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND BARE-BREASTED ZULU MAIDENS DANCE AND SING IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR VIRGINITY IN NONGOMA

Record ID: 753858

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND BARE-BREASTED ZULU MAIDENS DANCE AND SING IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR VIRGINITY IN NONGOMA
  • Date: 11th September 2004
  • Summary: NONGOMA, KWAZULU NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA (SEPTEMBER 11, 2004) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: OF THE MAIDENS SINGING AND DANCING (3 SHOTS) SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAIDEN, THABISILE NJOKWE SAYING: "With all the viruses that we have in South Africa, I think we should be proud of what we're doing because it's not easy for us to get infected with all those viruses that we have because we know how to look after ourselves and we can protect ourselves." SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE KING'S SISTER, THEMBI ZULU-NDLOVU SAYING: "The King when he started this tradition, he was concerned about his people dying and he let's try and create an HIV/AIDS free generation." VARIOUS: OF MAIDENS CARRYING REEDS SINGING AND MARCHING TO THE KING'S PALACE (3 SHOTS) SCU: ZULU KING GOODWILL ZWELITHINI WAITING FOR THE MAIDENS AT THE PALACE CU: MORE MAIDENS MARCHING AND SINGING SCU: ZULU WOMAN WEARING A TRADITIONAL HAT ALSO MARCHING AND SINGING CU: OF THE THOUSANDS OF THE REEDS MLV: MARCH LEADER, PRINCESS NQOBANGOTHANDO, PRESENTING THE REED TO THE KING LV: ZULU MEN IN TRADITIONAL ATTIRE SINGING AND DANCING MLV: ROYAL PRINCESSES LEADING OTHER MAIDENS IN SONG AND DANCE WS: OF THE QUEENS SEATED AT PODIUM WAITING FOR THE KING'S ADDRESS
  • Embargoed: 26th September 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NONGOMA, KWAZULU NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Health,Quirky,Politics,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVAC92XJFWOJAIL13649RJKNIL71
  • Story Text: More than ten thousand bare-breasted Zulu maidens dance and sing in celebration of their virginity as they pay their respects to the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
    Thousands of virgins from all over KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Swaziland converged on the northern KwaZulu-Natal town of Nongoma for the 20th anniversary of the royal reed dance.
    The festival takes its name from the riverbed reeds, which are the central focus of this four-day event. The reed-sticks are carried in a procession by thousands of young maidens who are invited to the King's palace each year. More than 10.000 maidens, from various communities throughout the province of KwaZulu-Natal, take part in the Reed Dance ceremony, with the rest of the Zulu nation helping them to celebrate their preparation for womanhood.
    It is a great honour for the young women to be invited to take part in the Reed Dance ceremony, and its also a source of great dignity and pride for their families and communities.
    According to Zulu tradition, only virgins are permitted to take part in the festival to ensure that they are ritually 'pure'.
    In recent times, however, the King has fittingly used the Reed Dance festival as an opportunity to educate the Zulu nation, and particularly the youth, focusing on vital social issues such as practising sexual morals and behaviours which prevent teenage pregnancy and lower the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
    The people of the Zulu nation are world famous for their impressive dancing and singing skills, and the dancing of the young women who perform for the King at the Reed Dance festival is both graceful and powerful.
    By paying tribute to the king in this way, the Zulu nation, represented by the young women, bestows on the king the symbolic power to rule over the Zulu kingdom and its loyal subjects in the year to come.
    To demonstrate his gratitude, the king responds with a sacrifice to the royal ancestors on behalf of all the young women and their communities throughout the Kingdom.
    This year's ceremony, it's 20th since revival, was attended by various dignitaries including the Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubaker, who was accompanied by his wife and a large delegation.
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