Dancing for the king
Melissa Sibiya and Thabile Mnguni are two Zululand girls who were proud participants of this year's Royal Reed Dance Festival
Melissa Sibiya (centre) and Thabile Mnguni (right) at the Reed Dance with their friend Sthembile Mthembu (left)
Lesley Stephenson
Thousands of maidens descended on King Goodwill Zwelithini's Royal Palace in northern Zululand last month for the vibrant and colourful Reed Dance Festival.
This year, however, the tragic gang rape of one of the girls left a dark shadow over proceedings and has revived strong debate surrounding the effectiveness of and safety at the Reed Dance.
The Zululand Observer spoke to two girls who participated in the festival to find out what the Reed Dance meant to them.
Melissa Sibiya (13) and Thabile Mnguni (15) reside in Nqutshini Reserve and both attend local schools.
This year was the first time both girls decided to attend the festival.
'We wanted to make our parents happy,' said Melissa and 'to be proud of ourselves,' said Thabile.
According to the girls, attending the festival is a pledge of abstinence to retain their virginity.
'It is to prevent ourselves from falling pregnant until we are 21. Then we can do whatever we want to do,' said Melissa.
The girls enjoyed the festival immensely. It was an opportunity to do what they love best - to 'make friends, sing and dance'.
The Reed Dance is promoted by the royal family as a tool to promote abstinence, enhance HIV education and instill traditional values.
According to Zulu tradition, only virgins are permitted to take part in the festival to ensure that they stay 'pure'.
Zulu mythology has it that if a young woman who is not a virgin takes part, her reed will break and embarrass her in public.
The ceremony performs the essential role of unifying the Zulu nation around cultural activities.
Choosing
a bride
There is a common perception that the king selects a new wife during the festival, but this is not necessarily the case and certainly not the purpose of the event.
It is also not why these girls attended.
'A girl we know from Ngwelezane was chosen by a celebrity from Durban and I saw her cry,' said Thabile.
'I would have been sad if I was chosen,' said Melissa.
Traditional dress
One of the main controversies around the Reed Dance centres around the 'traditional dress' that the maidens wear on the occasion, outfits that often leave breasts and buttocks exposed.
For Melissa and Thabile, however, this was not an issue.
'We are used to it,' said the girls, who did not feel shy to don their outfits.
'We often wear traditional dress for important ceremonies,' said Thabile.
Security
Opposing voices are concerned that such revealing dress puts the girls in danger, but for those who attended the festival is was the lack of security and free-flowing alcohol that posed the bigger threats.
'I didn't like the boys (who attended the festival), because many were drunk and hitting each other.
'When we heard about the girl who was raped we were initially apprehensive about returning next year.
'But we are confident the problems will be addressed, so we will go back,' said Melissa.
No comments:
Post a Comment