First leg of reed dance taken place at Emachobeni
The first leg of the annual reed dance has taken place at
Emachobeni Royal Palace at KwaNgavuma.
It's the first Umkhosi woMhlanga in two years after the event was paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Amazulu king Misuzulu KaZwelithini received reeds from hundreds of maidens who descended on the palace.
"The reed dance is one of the important ceremonies in the Zulu nation because it's dedicated to maidens," says UKZN-based cultural expert Thandeka Mazibuko.
"We refer to maidens as flowers of the nation, in fact, the reed dance instils respect and integrity."
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Mazibuko says the king uses the event to address societal issues.
"Especially the issues of gender-based violence, the issues of HIV and AIDS, the issues of teenage pregnancy and femicide because it is not only the maidens who attend the reed dance.
"The king addresses everyone in the ceremony that they must protect these flowers of the nations."
