Swazi Media Commentary: reed dance 2017

Showing posts with label reed dance 2017. Show all posts

Friday, 22 September 2017

SWAZI KING’S TORRID LIFE WITH WIVES

Confirmation that King Mswati III, aged 49, is to take a teenager as his latest wife shines the spotlight firmly on the King’s marital history.

His latest choice is Siphelele Mashwama, aged 19, who is the daughter of a Swaziland Cabinet minister, Jabulile Mashwama. In 2013 the King chose an 18-year-old ‘former beauty pageant contestant’ Sindiswa Dlamini as his wife. Both the teenagers are younger than some of the King’s own children.

There is some confusion as to whether King Mswati’s latest bride will be his 14^th or 15^th. The confusion is excusable since the number of wives the King has is considered a state secret in Swaziland and it is ‘un-Swazi’ to talk openly about the King’s polygamy.

The new bride is reported to be a graduate of Swaziland’s Waterford Kamhlaba World University College. She went with the King this week to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in the United States.

She was introduced at the annual Reed Dance where tens of thousands of women described as ‘virgins’ danced bare-breasted for the King.

King Mswati has been ridiculed outside of Swaziland for his likening of teenage women. Media in South Africa nicknamed Sindiswa Dlamini ‘naughty Sindie’.

The Sunday Sun newspaper in South Africa in 2014 reported she had affairs with two of King Mswati’s sons, Prince Majaha and Prince Bandzile, who were both in their early twenties. One unnamed source told the newspaper, ‘Sindi has dated both these boys. She’s a party girl used to having fun.’

Another informant told the Sunday Sun, ‘Sindi is no virgin. She drinks and smokes a lot and has tattoos on parts of her body I cannot mention.’

One source told the newspaper, ‘She is only doing it [marrying the King] because she comes from a poor background.’

The media in Swaziland never report about the King without his permission. This means people across the world are better informed than the King’s subjects, the Swazi people. Most media in the kingdom are under direct state control, opposition political parties are banned as ‘terrorist’ organisations and any political dissent is quickly crushed by police and the army.

In 2011, the Independent group of newspapers in South Africa reported that three of the King’s 13 queens had abandoned him since he took the throne in 1986. And more of his wives were trying to break out of the palace.

The Independent reported, ‘A royal source says some of the queens are frustrated as the King has allowed many months to pass without “visiting” them. They accuse him of seeking his pleasures outside the palace instead.’

The Independent added, ‘This comes after revelations about the recent unceremonious departure from the palace of LaDube, the King’s estranged 12th wife, after she had been accused of having a relationship with former minister of justice and constitutional affairs Ndumiso Mamba. To make matters worse, Mamba was the king’s business confidant and friend.

‘After the affair came to the King’s attention, he denied LaDube conjugal rights, according to insiders. They say he was trying to make palace life intolerable for her so that she would leave.

‘She is officially no longer part of the royal family and has been dumped at her maternal grandmother’s home in Hhohho.’

The newspaper reported, ‘LaDube was the third of Mswati’s wives to leave the palace. She followed LaMagwaza and LaHwala, who both now live in South Africa.

‘LaMagwaza was accused of having a steamy sexual relationship with a South African toy boy. Sources claimed that she was sex starved, as the King would not visit her.’

It added, ‘LaHwala was also neglected by the king who would deny her conjugal rights for six months at a time.’

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

SWAZI REED DANCE MEDIA BAN

Women taking part in Swaziland’s annual Reed Dance where they will parade half-naked in front of King Mswati III have been banned from talking to the news media.

This emerged in a report in the Swazi Observer on Wednesday (30 August 2017), a newspaper in effect owned by the King who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The Reed Dance participants who are generally described as ‘maidens’ or ‘virgins’ are travelling to the Ludzidzini Royal Residence for a ceremony that ends on Monday. The Observer reported that maidens from the Northern Hhohho region were unable to speak to the media. The newspaper wanted to know how much they were looking forward to the event.

The newspaper reported, ‘authorities responsible for the maidens said they were not allowed to conduct interviews with the media because they had not sought permission from their superiors.’

It quoted one saying, ‘Unfortunately, due to the fact that our superiors have not given us the go ahead to speak to the media we are currently in no position to comment on the preparations and we can’t reveal the number of maidens we currently have here.’

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the maidens will once again sing songs at the ceremony against democracy in the kingdom where political parties cannot take part in elections and prodemocracy campaigners are prosecuted under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

The Swazi Observer also reported on Wednesday that about 80,000 maidens had registered to attend the Reed Dance (also known as Umhlanga) and more were expected. It spoke to one leader Nonduduzo Zubuko. It reported, ‘Zubuko said they would also be tackling issues of multi-party democracy stating where they stand as a regiment.

‘“We are happy with our system, we don’t need multi-parties in our country hence we will put that out there for everyone to know in song,” he said.’

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

SWAZILAND’S SINISTER REED DANCE

Rehearsals for this year’s Reed Dance in Swaziland have started and the maidens who dance bare-breasted in front of King Mswati III have been told by organisers they must wear short skirts.

The Reed Dance or Umhlanga is an annual event in which tens of thousands of ‘maidens’, some as young as ten, dance for the pleasure of the King. It is widely reported within Swaziland that the dancers are ‘virgins’.

The ceremony has come under criticism in recent years because of its overt political nature. The maidens are taught songs that decry activists who want democracy in the small kingdom ruled by King Mswati, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

It has also been reported that many maidens are paid to take part in the ceremony or are threatened with public whippings if they do not.

The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on Wednesday (23 August 2017) that rehearsals for the event are underway. It reported that Princess Gcebile, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tinkhundla, told representatives of more than 50 chiefdoms in Shiselweni they needed to maintain tradition and attend the ceremony wearing short skirts.

International observers have pointed to the ‘sleazy’ nature of the Reed Dance in which half-naked children dance for the King who is aged 49.

In 2016, the Guardian newspaper, a respected international publication based in the United Kingdom, reported, ‘Traditionally, the King is allowed to choose one of the women as a wife, but in recent years the festival has been more about preserving a cultural heritage.’

The newspaper added that many participants were forced to attend the Umhlanga. It quoted a 29-year-old teacher saying, ‘They say we are not forced, but we are. Families who don’t send their daughters to the Umhlanga have to pay a fine, usually a goat or a cow.’

She added, ‘The girls sleep in small classrooms or tents without proper sanitation. There are also many rules you have to adhere to when you attend the Umhlanga. This is the 21^st century. We shouldn’t be forced to wear certain clothes.’

The Guardian reported for some girls, taking part in the festival was a way to make some money. It quoted one teenager who said, ‘It’s going to be a fun week. We are very excited. We are given 500 rand each.’

Zwane, a mother of six, told the newspaper forcing or bribing young girls to attend the Umhlanga was a violation of their human rights. ‘Chiefs abuse their power and penalise families who don’t take part. The whole idea is for women to show themselves naked in front of the King so that he can choose a wife. It’s very degrading to women. We don’t walk around bare-breasted at home. Why should we do it at cultural ceremonies?’

Umhlanga, billed as Swaziland’s foremost cultural day, proved to be anything but in 2013 when 120,000 half-naked maidens reportedly sang a song praising the Kings then-recent pronouncement about his continued rule over his kingdom.

They praised the King for announcing that henceforth Swaziland would be a ‘Monarchical Democracy’. This was a new name for the already existing ‘Tinkhundla’ system that puts all power in the hands of the King.

The King said he had been told in a vision to make this change.

The song included these words (loosely translated from the original), ‘Your Majesty Swaziland is well governed through the Tinkhundla System of Democracy and will be victorious through it.’

The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported at the time, ‘Royal Swaziland Police Superintendent Wendy Hleta who was the Master [sic] of Ceremonies together with former Indvuna YeMbali Nothando Ntshangase noted that the maidens were seemingly pleased with the message conveyed by the new composition.’

The sinister nature of the Reed Dance was also exposed in 2012 when about 500 children were ordered to sing a song vilifying political parties. This was part of a clampdown on dissent in the kingdom.

The children were taught a song to sing at the dance which had lyrics that when translated into English said political parties ‘set people against each other’ and said that if political parties were allowed to exist in the kingdom the King’s people ‘could start fighting each other’.

Political parties are banned in Swaziland, but there is increasing pressure from pro-democrats for this to change. Some traditional authorities also believe that support for the present system that puts them in control is on the wane. In Swaziland pro-democracy demonstrations have been attacked by police and state security forces.

In 2014, it was reported by media within Swaziland that girls had been told if they did not attend that year’s Reed Dance they would be publicly whipped. Girls in the Mbilaneni chiefdom were told that if they travelled to the event but do not attended the ceremony, they will be beaten on the buttocks when they returned to their homesteads.

Thami Thikazi, the headman of the Mbilaneni chiefdom, said if parents disagreed with the punishment they would be forced to wield the lash themselves.

The Swazi Observer, reported at the time Thikazi said, ‘In case parents distance themselves from such, we are going to order them to be the ones administering the punishment in the form of strokes on the buttocks should it be found that they (girls) did something intolerable. The punishment will take place in full view of everyone.’

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